Legislators need to stop mandating on Uber’s conduction of background checks
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Legislators need to stop mandating on Uber’s conduction of background checks
The greatest challenge facing the legitimacy of ridesharing services like Lyft and Uber has been settled after so many years of unstoppable and out-of-hand controversies. In most of the large cities in America, we have the liberty to order any ride to karaoke night using our cell phones without going through much stress.
Although, some unsettled issues in state and local transportation policy are still on the ground, especially issues relating to if ridesharing companies ought to be mandated to conduct a background check on their drivers with the federal fingerprint checks of background before they are employed. This question had been so controversial since last year in Austin, Houston, Boston, Maryland, and New York. The recent contention is Connecticut, the state legislature was contacted and instructed by taxi and limousine commission to make fingerprinting an essential requirement in ridesharing regulation bill.
According to the statements made by advocates, the recent claims of assault leveled against Uber drivers are proof that the current private background checks conducted by Uber and Lyft are not enough to guarantee public safety. It was stated that the use of the federal fingerprinting systems adopted by taxicab should be imposed on ridesharing companies since the method provides an extensive check on the past criminal conduct.
The suggestion initially sounded so intelligent, but it led to so many misunderstandings regarding the impact of fingerprinting as a background check system with respect to the safety of taxis.
The crime statistics revealed that people’s claim that ridesharing is not safe when compared to taxis was true.
Nonetheless, Academic research contradicts the claims. According to a study conducted at Western Carolina University in 2016, the use of Uber leads to a decrease in the level of assault, as well as a decrease in DUIs and vehicular homicides. Apart from curbing the crime rate, ridesharing has also provided quality service. According to the review made by the Atlantic, there is a significant reduction in the number of complaints made against taxi drivers ever since Uber had been in existence in the Chicago market, which is as a result of the presence of competitors.
Considering the measures ridesharing drivers have to cope with, this procedure would not be particularly amazing. Working as a driver for a platform like Uber and Lyft could be a wrong career choice for someone with intentions of causing harm or perpetrating evil towards others. This is because the driver and the passenger are monitored through a cell phone enabled GPS from one point to the other at each trip made. All information ranging from the exact route, pick up point, and drop off time, any strange stopovers are monitored and recorded during your working hours.
Contrarily, it is widely known that the federal background check system is unreliable, and the NELP study in 2013 made it known that information on the final judgment of cases is excluded in 50 percent of the FBI's records. For example, one-third of arrests relating to a felony does not give rise to conviction, a lot is regarded as little crime. The report also indicated the disturbing outcomes of racial differences in the arrest documentation. Black Americans are less favored by these faulty records. The rate at which blacks are constantly arrested is higher than their number in the whole population, and many of those arrested are never convicted. For instance, the number of African Americans who are likely to appeal incorrect FBI records under the federal port worker, security clearance program was four times greater than the number of whites likely to make the same appeal.
Though the compulsory use of fingerprinting systems might be justifiable for taxi drivers who lack the use of powerful tracking and preventive measures enforced by ridesharing apps, it is unimaginable to allow ex-convicts to merge into the society. Probably there are simple means of selecting applicants as well as sustaining a significant standard of safety in society. Taxis should be eventually advised to function more like Uber and Lyft and not otherwise.
Embracing any available means that would help put a stop to future harm could be enticing when a dreadful incident happens, but we must be watchful of what method to adopt. Additional safety services are not visible if fingerprint background checks are made compulsory for ridesharing. Instead, it will increase the cost, reduce the number of willing workers, and also unknowingly trust a broken and discriminatory hiring system.