Uber Flap Not About Safety

I have been very interested to see the polarization in London about the possibility of City Hall’s acceptance of Uber, with the service being adopted in the city without consequences.

For the uninitiated, Uber allows consumers to request rides via a downloadable app on their smartphone. The difference between Uber and traditional taxi companies is that the drivers use their own cars.

Proponents of the traditional taxi model site safety concerns of a deregulated industry, but I believe this is simply a smoke screen to both protect the existing industry and status quo. The bottom line is that Uber has simply introduced an alternative (and more competitive) business model and the onus rests on the traditional taxi industry to adapt or die.

Government regulations will not be able to impede progress, unless a legitimate safety concern can be addressed. I suspect the data does not exist to support that claim and, in fact, my guess is there is more documented evidence of crime in traditional taxis than in Uber vehicles.

Regardless, a smart entrepreneur will find a “work around” to any impending regulation that would prohibit the freedom to use a private vehicle for the transportation of passengers.