Sascha Pangallo on Facebook "UBER.. YEAH THEY'RE CHEAP ~ BUT CAN YOU PUT A PRICE ON YOUR LIFE?"

1'm not one to post these long novel Facebook statuses, but I really feel that this needs/should be made public - and put to the people. Yesterday afternoon, I ordered an Uber (as I do on the daily.) Little did I know on this particular afternoon I would be stepping into an Uber with a psychotic/mentally unstable driver aka "Paul". 

After refusing to put my destination into his GPS he requested my directing (which I had no problem with) however I was on an important phone call and during one of the directions he snapped and screamed at me in a very aggressive manner.

He then pulled the car over continued to scream "get out of my car" multiple times whilst getting very physical, grabbing me and trying to drag me out of the car. He soon realised that there were 4 on lookers witnessing the whole thing and yelling that they were calling the police - he then panicked and ran back around to the driver side door, jumped in to his 4WD - and hit the accelerator like an absolute maniac.

My door was still open as I was frantically trying to grab my bags out of the car and before I could get away I was thrown to the ground and my leg was being run over.

I have bruises on my arm and leg and a huge burn/severe skin abrasion from where the tyre ran over me. I am currently in hospital for a suspected blood clot and possible broken leg.

For someone who has been 'pro' Uber for so long, I will never use them again. Police are currently trying to shut Uber down as they are unlicensed taxis who claim to do police checks but this cannot be confirmed as there are so many incidents like mine involving their drivers. Some states in Australia have already banned Ubering.

For those of you Ubering on the Gold Coast I will comment a screenshot of his Uber details below. Do not under any circumstances get in the car with him.
source: Taxileaks.
----------------------------------

A CHELMSFORD taxi boss fears the city could become "awash" with under-qualified cab drivers using sat navs if the city's knowledge test is dumbed down.

Chelmsford city councillors will today discuss proposals from private hire cab firms to relax the test that all drivers have to take to operate in the city.

The test can take three months to pass and costs around £300, with applicants asked to identify streets or landmarks in Baddow, Danbury, South Woodham Ferrers and the city centre without referring to a map, much like London's famous knowledge exam.

Ian Vernon, chairman of the Chelmsford Taxi Association that represents two-thirds of the Hackney carriage divers in the city, says the city could be flooded with under-qualified drivers if the plans are approved.

"We want to see standards maintained, not reduced," he told the Chronicle.

"The council decided to introduce the knowledge test, so it is slightly perverse to decide to cut back standards in 2015.

"The CTA is about driving up standards and improving them to make the customer's experience better, but this proposal is generated from commercial desire, on one side by private hire companies looking to get more drivers and make more money.

"The other side is the council which fears it will lose income if it doesn't make the test easier as drivers come in from other boroughs."

Currently, dual licences are issued by the authority that allow drivers to operate both pre-booked private hire cars and Hackney carriages, which are the only type of vehicle that can pick passengers up from the roadside or from ranks.

The move was put forward after the Deregulation Bill, which will allow taxi drivers to "cross borders" and operate in other boroughs.

Drivers argue that it means drivers could pass an easier test anywhere in the country, but still be licensed to operate in Chelmsford.

The proposal has been put forward by Habbicabs, Fareway and The Chauffeur Company. Umar Hussain, 24, and his brother Waqas Hussain, 26, have 12 private hire vehicles and three taxis in their Happicabs fleet, based in Chelmsford.

"We are all looking for more drivers, but it's difficult to get people through the test," said Umar. "Some councils across the UK have different standards, Chelmsford's test is harder than smaller places like Maldon and Uttlesford.

"I want to support the council, I'm from Chelmsford so I want to have Chelmsford drivers and keep everything local.

"But drivers coming in from outside areas would take money and business away from the city.

"Also, if a customer has a complaint against the driver, they would need to go to the council that issued the licence and that council is less likely to do anything about it if the driver is from another district."

There are two parts to the test, one aspect is "local knowledge" that has a pass mark of 18 out of 25 questions, as well as a "places of interest" score of six from ten questions.

Alan Mitchell, co-owner of Fareway Taxis in Chelmsford, wrote to the city council to show his support for relaxing the test.

The company based in Russell Way has around 30 private hire cars and 30 Hackney carriage vehicles, but he says the company needs as many as 20 more drivers to meet rising demand.

"We would like to see different licences for Hackney carriages and private hire drivers because there is a shortage of drivers and the test is putting a lot of people off," said the 55-year-old.

"There would still be the same medicals and CRB checks, but a simpler knowledge test.

"We have the routes downloaded straight to the PDAs in the cars, so there is no danger of a driver getting lost.

"Making the test easier would help unemployed people get into work and the public as well because they would not be left waiting.

"We are all battling Uber (a smartphone app for taxi customers) who will eventually move into Chelmsford as we are a university town ."

On July 9, councillors rejected a proposal by Chelmsford Taxi Association to increase fares by around 1.5 per cent.

"We reject the idea of decreasing quality to increase volume," added Mr Vernon, who has worked in Chelmsford since 2002.

"What if there is a problem with the sat nav? What if a customer asks to go a different route or for an explanation of why they are being taken that way?

"If a driver doesn't have the knowledge of the area they won't be able to answer.

"If this proposal is approved the city will be awash with under-qualified drivers clogging up our roads."

Chelmsford City Council did not want to comment before the licensing and regulatory meeting today (September 3).

http://www.essexchronicle.co.uk/City-awash-sat-nav-taxis-test-easy/story-27722179-detail/story.html 
---------------------------------------
The Truth behind the drive to make Cabbies Take Credit Cards.
 
 Smartphone-based taxi booking service, goCatch has entered an agreement to partner with retail, mobile, and online payments provider, Mint Payments, to capitalise on in-taxi card payments.

The partnership will begin with a Sydney-based pilot that will see a portion of goCatch's 35,000 registered drivers decked out with Mint Payments' mobile point-of-sale (mPos) terminals to "build out new revenue channels for both businesses", in an industry goCatch estimates to be worth AU$5.4 billion in Australia. 

"Roughly half of all taxi jobs in Australia are hailed from the street or taxi rank, representing a big opportunity for goCatch to monetise payments for these journeys -- rolling out mobile payment terminals enables us to capture some of that revenue," goCatch CEO Ned Moorfield said.

"We believe that the combination of goCatch's bookings app and Mint's payments terminal will be far ahead of any competing offering in the market."

http://www.zdnet.com/article/mint-payments-gocatch-partner-to-target-au5-4b-taxi-industry/#ftag=RSSbaffb68 
-----------------------------------