I waited a couple of days before I commented on this subject that I know very well. A few days ago outside Pittsburgh a mother of four moonlighting as a driver for Uber was killed by a savage after she begged for her life. I wanted to see if our media would do it’s job. And of course they did! They buried this story deep! The last thing the media wants is another report of a white person murdered by a young black man with a criminal record! If it was a white man killing a black female, it would be 24/7 news!
As someone who does dive for Uber/Lyft I can tell you those drivers are not getting rich. They need to drive to make ends meet. The cars are nothing special. Plus we rarely handle cash. It’s all electronic. We would be some of the last people you want to mug. As for the customers, cabbies have been avoiding poor neighborhoods for years for safety reasons and so have I. This has gone on for decades and will continue. It’s a survival instinct. These men and women want to see their families at the end of the shift. The plexiglass between cabbie and driver? It’s not because of upper class white people mugging cabbies. Today poor people in the ‘hood have it bad. They always have to pay higher rates because drivers (including me) don’t want to drive there because 1) they are afraid there would be no trips out of the ‘hood 2) some of the people travelling to the ‘hood are people you wouldn’t want in your car in the first place and 3) personal safety. Years ago I spoke to an immigrant from Ethiopia who told me he did not pick up young black men nor drive to the ‘hood because of the clientele. And this man was darker than piano keys! I dropped a fare off in the ‘hood and picked up an older lady at night. I felt sorry for her because she had to pay top dollar and wait a long time because her neighbors can’t behave. This is not the first time something like this happened. In DC in Uber Eats driver was carjacked with a stungun by two teenage girls. And in Greenbelt, MD on the outskirts of DC, an Uber driver was shot at the train station. He survived!
As for Uber, they don’t give a shit. To them we are just contractors or hired help. They have done nothing for the drivers working for Uber who have become a target. Unlike a taxi that rents a car and medallion or they own the taxi and license outright. Uber drivers represent the company when they drive or deliver. Their name is on our car!
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