Toronto Cops Go On The Attack Against Uber Drivers

Uber is not having a good time of it. After being nailed in various parts of the planet, it now finds itself under attack in my adopted hometown of Toronto. Here’s the details from The Globe And Mail:

Toronto police have launched a crackdown on UberX drivers, the latest in a series of confrontations between the city and the ride-sharing app company.

At least 11 people were charged earlier this month with a variety of Highway Traffic Act violations, including operating a commercial motor vehicle without proper insurance and picking up passengers for compensation without a taxi licence.

Toronto Police confirmed that those charged were alleged to be working as UberX drivers.

Supt. Scott Wiedmark of Toronto Police said the crackdown was initiated by a few of his officers. Their investigation, dubbed “Project Snowball,” involved undercover officers using the UberX app to summon cars and go for short rides before charging the drivers.

“A couple of my younger officers who are in touch with technology … identified a public-safety issue, particularly with Uber,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “There’s no guarantee that private citizens driving for Uber would be persons of good character, and also the vehicles are not insured, so if there’s an accident, the passengers would be unprotected.”

Gee. That last paragraph sounds like something that I have been saying for a while now. Now the usual disclaimer of “none of these charges have been proven in court” applies here. But it’s quickly becoming clear that Uber’s days of simply thumbing their nose at the law are coming to an end authorities are clearly making moves to make them disappear.

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