Uber Preparing to Leave Houston If City Keeps Existing Rules

On Thursday May, 5 2016 Alyssa Rangel covered an article from the Texas Tribune titled "Uber Preparing to Leave Houston If City Keeps Existing Rules." This article was written April 27, 2016. Alyssa goes on to state that Uber would cease operations in Houston, Tx if the city counsel didn't back off with the rules and regulations that were being placed on them. She also stated that Houston is one of two cities that Uber has initiated the fingerprint background checks, and has already left three cities, and will include Austin if the same regulations are approved.

I agree with Alyssa, that nowadays safety is key to survival and that the world we are living in today seems to have many more issues involving dangerous situations. It is also true that we have to be more careful around people we don't know, especially drivers of Uber who we are entrusting our lives to safely get us to our destinations.

Although I am in agreement with Alyssa in that we need rules and regulations to keep us safe from danger, but it is not always going to stop it. There is always going to be something, or someone out there that is going to break the rules, and I don't think that just adding fingerprint background checks is going to change that. If it makes people feel safer, then I say do it, but the way Uber is doing things now seems to be going well, minus a few terrible situations.

I can also say that the same could be said for those who are hailing an Uber driver. These drivers have gone through security checks to be made safe for picking up and dropping off passengers, but the passengers have not gone through these checks. So it is not just the Uber passengers that need to be careful, but also the drivers as well. Suffice to say, we all need to be a little more careful in who is giving us rides and who is riding as a passenger.  

PROP 1

The vote for, or against Proposition 1 has been the talk going around in Austin for what seems, like awhile now. But, the debate is going to be decided on Saturday, May 7. To vote for Prop 1 would mean that Uber and Lyft would keep the standardized criminal background checks, without implementing fingerprinting. The vote against Prop 1 would give the city of Austin control over ridesharing by implementing fingerprint background checks, in addition to the criminal background checks.

If the voters decide against Prop 1, Uber and Lyft might not be around for long in this big city, already having stated that they would leave if the decision against is made. This would not only take away jobs from the citizens of Austin, but DWI rates which have decreased since the arrival of Uber and Lyft, would potentially increase. Also, the control of background checks on drivers would be done by the city of Austin, also adding fingerprinting to the game which would cost more to get done. This could potentially cause taxpayers in the long-run.

To be honest, I think voters should vote for Prop 1. Since the arrival of Uber and Lyft DWI rates have decreased exponentially, making our roads safer to be on. It has also created a safer and easier way to make money, whether it is a full-time gig, or part-time. There are many citizens of Austin who are not able to work full-time jobs and need an easy way to make some money, and ridesharing has helped with that. Since Uber and Lyft already conduct criminal background checks, which are done through Third-party companies, it is safer and it doesn't cost the tax-payers anything. Drivers are also required to go through training to establish a safe driving program, have car-insurance, as well as, mandatory digital safety features which requires drivers to display accurate pictures of themselves with a description of their vehicles and license plate numbers. Ultimately I believe we should vote for Prop 1 before we lose Uber and Lyft in our city.