Comment by thatwasunusual | Hacker News Reader

Comment by thatwasunusual | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

I'm from Norway, and e24 is credible enough in this particular case.

I'd like to shed some background on why the story, though: In Norway, transporting passengers is extremely regulated. As in most other countries, taxi drivers need to have a license, go through certain tests etc., to be allowed to transport passengers.

The problem is that Uber (in Norway) won't cooperate with the government in regards to a number of standards we have; it goes all from how the drivers are paid (taxation) to (more importantly) if the insurance covers any damages other than the car and/or its owner, not the passenger(s). Also, how well do Uber do background checks on their drivers? I guess it's easy to give a negative rating on a driver after you've been raped, or hit in the head with a hammer, but - hey - that could happen to anyone?

I've lived in San Francisco, and used Uber, and I must say that I feel a lot safer in a taxi. I know that their insurance will cover me in case something happens, even though my Norwegian travel insurance is worth more than gold in US hospitals (tried that, different discussion). I know that my taxi driver represents a company more than an Uber driver represents him-/herself.

Said that, I've met some fantastic Uber drivers over the years, and I hope that - over time - Uber (and the likes) and the licensed taxi/cab business can meet in the middle somewhere. The priority shouldn't be price, IMO, but the safety of the passengers AND the drivers.

I've been in a few Lyft and Uber rides and at some point I just stopped counting how many traffic laws were being broken (red light, no turn signal, improperly overtaking another car, driving on the bike lane to cut traffic, turning left wher eits was prohibited, etc). Never mind the loud music too.

I don't have the same careless experience when I take a taxi. Of course, this is anecdata only, but the fact that there are virtually no requirements make me worried. I only take Uber/Lyft if someone else is ordering it (when we're in a group), otherwise I'll find other options with actual professional drivers or public transportation.

That's interesting, because anecdotally I have had essentially the opposite experience.

Taxis in my area (Seattle) drive fast and loose, at least they did 4 to 5 years ago. No signals, always about 10MPH over the limit. Music always on, not loud, but usually always on.

Lyft/Uber drivers in the area were/are a little more gentle (the ones that weren't taxi drivers before). Interestingly, sometimes I'll get a Lyft driver that asks if I care about how fast I need to get to my destination and how I'd like them to drive.

Also, I took taxis in Prague during vacation, and that system is amazing and I'd choose those taxi services over Uber/Lyft any day. Clean, quick, stupid simple, and the drivers were pros.

We're also in Seattle and had the same experience. I took several taxis to the airport but switched to Lyft or Uber because I felt like the taxi drivers might get me killed. The Uber black car drivers were by far the safest of all of the methods, but I only used those a couple of times.

I'm going to have to agree with other posters that have had the opposite experience.

The majority of taxi drivers I come across are terrible drivers. They pump the brakes on the highway when there is no traffic, they go slow in the left lane, make illegal turns, and don't know where they are going.

Lyft drivers are hit and miss, but for the most part, are people who are good at driving and getting where they are going. Plus they all use waze or Google Maps, so their directions are good.

I've had to exhort a couple of Lyft drivers (I try to avoid the other one) to go faster to keep up with traffic, but other then that, they are on average 2 steps above taxi drivers in terms of alacrity and situational awareness.

(This is in the Washington DC area BTW)

I find it very interesting that you feel the taxi's are safer. My experience, like several of the other posters here, is that Uber is a much more comfortable and safer experience than a Taxi (in the US).

With an Uber driver you have immediate feedback as to how the experience was, and it helps other users get better rides. With a Taxi, you have to go through a lot more steps to report a driver's behavior and hope that maybe it gets taken into account eventually.

I wonder if it has something to do with the perception that Taxis are bad here in the US, that just opens up Uber to be 'better' even if there is no real difference.

It seems whenever we discuss taxis and Uber/Lyft/etc, one has to make it clear what area the experience happened in. Re-analyzing my experiences, I don't feel I have enough data now to compare both services as they happened in very different cities and not enough times to draw any conclusions.

So rephrasing my argument: I feel safer in my city, with the requirements the local government imposes on taxis (licensing, training, special driver license, etc) versus "anyone can drive an Uber/Lyft". Interestingly, my personal experience has contributed to make this feeling stronger but I understand that will not be the case for others. I often hear a lot of bad stories about taxis in the US and, to make me more confused, that's where I had terrible Uber/Lyft experiences.

I think this only goes to show there's a huge lack of quality everywhere, with both services.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com