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Not the sort of story that inspires confidence in Boston cab drivers
By adamg on Mon, 07/29/2013 - 9:29am
Wicked Local Cambridge reports Cambridge Police are investigating an incident in which a woman in Allston got in a cab, asked to be taken to an address in Cambridge and when she refused to pay the full fare because the driver took her to the wrong place, was basically held hostage in a parking lot while the driver started doing donuts:
The woman eventually jumped out of the cab, suffering minor injuries to her right foot and right elbow.
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Comments
Another reason why I support Hail-O and Uber
You stand a better chance of actually getting where you are going injury free. Stay away from Lyft, though. Please.
agreed
Lyft is going to be the downfall of Uber not because it is better but becayse it is likely to have an incident of some sort, which the cab industry will use as a rallying cry for regulation of these non-cab companies. Uber is great, Lyft is BAD...
I've never heard of
I've never heard of Lyft....but what's so bad about it?
Lyft is a ride share service
where the concept is ordinary people drive other people around in their ordinary cars. The scam is that instead of posted rates, Lyft operates on a "suggested donation" system. Which in the opinion of some skirts the regulations that taxis and livery drivers have to observe.
My main issue is that you have regular type people operating under Lyft's blanket insurance policy of the industry standard million dollar liability. My concern is that if the driver is at fault in an accident where the passenger is injured, Lyft will do their damnedest to stick it on the driver's insurance if he's at fault. Of course you can imagine how sympathetic the driver's insurance company is going to be when they find out their insured was acting as a livery driver without the necessary insurance.
I've actually stated my concerns on Lyft's social media, but for some strange reason, I've gotten no response...
Reminds me of Zipcar
When they started out. I believe they're required to at least offer the state minimum insurance now after a few high profile cases of them covering their cars and not the drivers.
ZipCar
Don't even say Zipcar and Accident in the same sentance. Oy, when I was a member, I was in a couple of accidents. Both were clearly not my fault, yet zipcar tried to ding me royally. They were a hassle to deal with, a hassle to file a claim with, and tried to stick me with their 500 dollar deductible.
My fav was the time a rock hit and smashed the windshield on the upper deck of 93 in Charlestown. Clearly not my fault. ZipCar tried to charge me 500 dollars for this, when in MA, your insurance company will pay for windshield replacement gratis. AND it having PG come out and replace it was still cheaper than 500 dollars. So I fought them. Sorry, I am not going to pay a fee because you want me to do so, when the repair is less than what you are charging AND your insurance company (Liberty Mutual) will pick up the tab for anyways. Nice try. I did not have to pay in the end (but had my account shut off for two weeks while I fought it).
ugh.. one of the many reasons I won't go back to Zipcar...
Cabs are dangerous
A quick rundown of the few incidents reported for Uber and Lyft ... and why this is an "outrage" when cab drivers are far more rapey: http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/17/uber-lyft-sidecar...
I wonder if the meter was
I wonder if the meter was going while he was doing donuts...
I don't wonder.
Of course it was running.
The meter is always working
The meter is always working just fine. The credit card machines on the other hand......
Time to start over
The Globe made lots of light, so where's the heat?
Scrap the system, regionalize it, implement strict state rules for any driver or vehicle that wants to play, start over!
Not blaming the victim...
But curious: If a cabbie drives you to the wrong destination, what's the appropriate response?
"The woman reportedly pulled out an unknown amount of cash from her purse and gave it to him."
does not seem like the best way to respond, but I'm not sure what else I would do in that scenario.
and what if the driver gets lost on the way?
How do you handle that?
I had a cabbie get about $15 dollars lost on the way back from the airport. He went the wrong way where 93 hits 95 and had to go to the next exit and turn around. I just didn't tip him in my case since I was super happy to finally be home after that and didn't feel like bothering with it since I would have tipped him something anyway. Or maybe I should have complained AND not tipped since it was really his mistake.
Confusing streets
Two relatively new streets, with similar names, a few blocks apart, both of which are primarily pedestrian ways with little direct vehicular access. No wonder the cabbie got mixed up. (Google Maps does show them correctly but I can't vouch for GPS systems for cars, which routinely say that pedestrian ways don't exist.) None of this excuses the cabbie's later actions, but I can understand why he made the mistake in the first place.
Fine the Medallion holders (hoarders)
If we’re going to keep this ridiculous rent seeking institution around, there needs to be much more accountability. If this were the black hackneys of London, the driver would get a mark against him and a few more and he’d be booted from the profession.
Since the state sets rates, fines have teeth since they can’t be passed onto to customers. For every number of complaints against drivers, they should be looking into complaints and levying fines against the medallion holders. Too many on a driver should get the driver barred, either from fines that tell the medallion holder he shouldn’t employ the person, or through the state simply stating that driver isn’t fit to drive. Same should go with traffic and accidents while on the job.
Personally, I think we need to scrap the antiquated medallion system altogether and let the free market have at it. Safety and pricing regulations are enough in the 21st century, where traffic enforcement and norms are much stricter and universally accepted. As it is now we only have a few hundred more medallions than in the 20’s, and traffic laws and norms followed by the population are a bit better than those periods when cars were new, exotic toys vying for space on pedestrian and equestrian crowded streets.
"Independent" cabbie charged with kidnap attempt
My sources tell me that this guy drove cabs in Boston in addition to using his own Toyota for an alleged attempted kidnapping. It's not the first time he was reported for similar behavior and he even admitted trying to get other women into his car in Quincy and Brookline. Women, be careful out there.
Women be careful?
Men can be robbed, too.
Look for authentication - livery plate or medallion.
Yes, you are right men can be
Yes, you are right men can be robbed as well but it is a tad scarier as a woman when you are taken to the wrong place & not let go.
I had an issue with a cab driver (cc machine broken, yada, yada, yada) and I ended up filing a complaint. I received the best phone call from the BPD hackney division.
She told me "If this happens again you whip out your phone and tell him "I am going ot call the po-po now - your machine still not working?" She was AWESOME and made me feel so much better b/c the guy was getting belligerant with me and come to find out he had several complaints against him already.
You've been both?
So you've been both a man and a woman?
Is that how you know this?
Easy solution.
The new meter systems already do GPS tracking.
So, make the map screens show the map of the ENTIRE RIDE, and offer the passenger a WTF button if it looks like he was taken for a ride.
(Oh, and give more love to Uber. Remember, cabbies, everytime you misbehave, another black car driver signs up for Uber.)