The Off Topic Topic

[garbon]

It's a ride-sharing service, not a taxi service.

And what, exactly, is the difference?

Yeah, I think they have co-opted what ride sharing actually is - to make a distinction between what they offer / what taxis offer that really isn't there.

[DGuller]

No.  They can go out and lobby to change the system, or challenge it in court, like everybody else.  That can't just barge ahead and pretend the rules don't even apply to them.

To be fair to Uber, it has started to do this, but only after being repeatedly called out for ignoring the law.

I see your point, but the problem is, it's never going to happen the other way.  Bad laws tend to get repealed only after widespread non-compliance.  How is Uber going to challenge the taxi cartel laws in court, when they have no revenue coming in?

[Josquius]

Cheaper != better.
Sure, taxi driver licensing systems have elements of trying to control the market and keep the jobs of taxi drivers secure, but a big part of its reason for existence is also to make sure people who are out there doing the job are capable of doing it and aren't going to get anyone killed.
There's no clear cut answer to which side is in the right on this one.

Tyr, this is a good point. A driver's license qualifies you to drive a car, and one with other people in it, but who is to say you can drive a car safely with other people in it if they are paying you money?

How many times have I been in a cab and thought, "thank goodness I have such a safe and curteous driver"?

I'm pretty sure you do need a special sort of insurance for driving with passengers.
Also It is far from unknown for unlicensed taxi drivers to not even have valid drivers licenses. Not to mention the potential for other crime that comes from convincing someone, possible a drunk girl, to get in your car.

[Barrister]

No.  They can go out and lobby to change the system, or challenge it in court, like everybody else.  That can't just barge ahead and pretend the rules don't even apply to them.

To be fair to Uber, it has started to do this, but only after being repeatedly called out for ignoring the law.

I see your point, but the problem is, it's never going to happen the other way.  Bad laws tend to get repealed only after widespread non-compliance.  How is Uber going to challenge the taxi cartel laws in court, when they have no revenue coming in?

The same way they're doing it now - through venture capital.

You don't think they're profitable at present, do you?  They're a privately held start up still receiving funding.

I would note that originally the company was called UberCab.

[DGuller]

No.  They can go out and lobby to change the system, or challenge it in court, like everybody else.  That can't just barge ahead and pretend the rules don't even apply to them.

To be fair to Uber, it has started to do this, but only after being repeatedly called out for ignoring the law.

I see your point, but the problem is, it's never going to happen the other way.  Bad laws tend to get repealed only after widespread non-compliance.  How is Uber going to challenge the taxi cartel laws in court, when they have no revenue coming in?

The same way they're doing it now - through venture capital.

You don't think they're profitable at present, do you?  They're a privately held start up still receiving funding.

I would note that originally the company was called UberCab.

Still, why would anyone undertake an incredibly arduous process of repealing cartel laws, when they don't even know if they have a successful venture?  It's just not going to happen.  Requiring Uber to repeal taxi laws before putting cabs out on the street is tantamount to requiring Uber to not exist. 

Sometimes you just have to violate laws and create facts on the ground.  That's not a mark against companies like Uber, that's a mark against the way our legal system works.

[derspiess]

It's a ride-sharing service, not a taxi service.

And what, exactly, is the difference?

Not subject to taxi regulations

[Ideologue]

No.  They can go out and lobby to change the system, or challenge it in court, like everybody else.  That can't just barge ahead and pretend the rules don't even apply to them.

To be fair to Uber, it has started to do this, but only after being repeatedly called out for ignoring the law.

I see your point, but the problem is, it's never going to happen the other way.  Bad laws tend to get repealed only after widespread non-compliance.  How is Uber going to challenge the taxi cartel laws in court, when they have no revenue coming in?

The same way they're doing it now - through venture capital.

You don't think they're profitable at present, do you?  They're a privately held start up still receiving funding.

I would note that originally the company was called UberCab.

Still, why would anyone undertake an incredibly arduous process of repealing cartel laws, when they don't even know if they have a successful venture?  It's just not going to happen.  Requiring Uber to repeal taxi laws before putting cabs out on the street is tantamount to requiring Uber to not exist. 

Sometimes you just have to violate laws and create facts on the ground.  That's not a mark against companies like Uber, that's a mark against the way our legal system works.

Like how sometimes you have to hang bankers from lamp posts for years before the government gets around to making it technically legal.

[Barrister]

It's a ride-sharing service, not a taxi service.

And what, exactly, is the difference?

Not subject to taxi regulations

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

[HVC]

It's a ride-sharing service, not a taxi service.

And what, exactly, is the difference?

Not subject to taxi regulations

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

You can find a lawyer to convince the judge it's a chicken?

[citizen k]

"Hold my beer and watch this!"

New York driver chains neck to pole, hits gas pedal, gets decapitated
Reuters
41 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A 51-year-old man decapitated himself in New York's Bronx borough by chaining his neck to a pole, getting into his car and stomping on the gas, police said on Tuesday.

The gory scene in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx, where the man's head and body lay on the street after the incident on Monday, was under investigation as an apparent suicide.

Police said Tomas Rivera, of Port Jervis, New York, about 70 miles northwest of New York City, went to Longfellow Avenue in the Bronx at about 9:20 a.m. and wrapped a chain around a pole.

He then entered his white Honda Pilot and put the other end of the chain around his neck, according to police. Once inside the car, he hit the gas pedal, causing the chain to yank off his head, which flew back onto the street.

The car continued down the street until it hit a parked car, and the impact ejected Rivera's body onto the street.

Police said it was unclear whether he had left a suicide note.

[Ideologue]

If I were still being an Eyore, that's the kind of Eyore I'd wanna be.

The car continued down the street until it hit a parked car, and the impact ejected Rivera's body onto the street.

Perfect stinger.

[alfred russel]

Now that is a badass way to commit suicide. Also innovative.

[sbr]

Now that's hardcore.

[Josquius]

"Hold my beer and watch this!"

New York driver chains neck to pole, hits gas pedal, gets decapitated
Reuters
41 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A 51-year-old man decapitated himself in New York's Bronx borough by chaining his neck to a pole, getting into his car and stomping on the gas, police said on Tuesday.

The gory scene in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx, where the man's head and body lay on the street after the incident on Monday, was under investigation as an apparent suicide.

Police said Tomas Rivera, of Port Jervis, New York, about 70 miles northwest of New York City, went to Longfellow Avenue in the Bronx at about 9:20 a.m. and wrapped a chain around a pole.

He then entered his white Honda Pilot and put the other end of the chain around his neck, according to police. Once inside the car, he hit the gas pedal, causing the chain to yank off his head, which flew back onto the street.

The car continued down the street until it hit a parked car, and the impact ejected Rivera's body onto the street.

Police said it was unclear whether he had left a suicide note.

Holy cow. I've read about that purely in the context of an awesome theoretical idea to commit suicide (an xkcd comic maybe?). Now someone has done it...

[CountDeMoney]

That man had a goal, and he had the balls to pursue that goal.