2N1A and 1N2A: CROSS EXAMINATIONS

Why hasnt Uber been following the cease and desist orders which state
that it is an illegal cab company violating state laws? It continues to
operate despite breaking local code.
Wouldnt you say that safety is more important that
convenience/prices/speed?
Uber drivers avoid taxes, but arent taxes a fundamental part of our
government?
The high standards Uber drivers face put them in a frenzy to get rated
well. If their star average drops below a 4.5, they are fired. Multiple drivers
have forced their passengers to rate them a 5/5. Are these standards
really accomplishing what they were set out to do? Are these standards
fair?
Why is Uber making the customers pay? Do they not have the money to
support their own business? ($1 fee)

2N1A and 1N2A: CROSS EXAMINATIONS

Why hasnt Uber been following the cease and desist orders which state that
it is an illegal cab company violating state laws? It continues to operate
despite breaking local code.
Wouldnt you say that safety is more important that
convenience/prices/speed?
Uber drivers avoid taxes, but arent taxes a fundamental part of our
government?
The high standards Uber drivers face put them in a frenzy to get rated well. If
their star average drops below a 4.5, they are fired. Multiple drivers have
forced their passengers to rate them a 5/5. Are these standards really
accomplishing what they were set out to do? Are these standards fair?
Why is Uber making the customers pay? Do they not have the money to
support their own business? ($1 fee)

1NC: LIABILITY
We are here today to argue against the notion of regulating Uber throughout the
United States. We stand by the idea of banning the company Uber all together
instead of piling on regulations that are a waste of resources. Slowly, multiple
states are enforcing these regulations upon Uber to provide safety and
reassurance to customers. If Uber was created to be a perfect and safe system,
it wouldnt need all the regulations that are currently being put in place by
individual states. These regulations do not ameliorate Uber enough for it to
remain in use and on the market. Within the company itself there are still
numerous flaws despite the piling regulations. The main concern with Uber is that
they are not liable for any damages or losses that a driver or car may have
caused a passenger. In the Terms and Service, Uber states, and I quote, that
THE COMPANY AND/OR ITS LICENSORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY
LOSS, DAMAGE OR INJURY WHICH MAY BE INCURRED BY YOU,
INCLUDING BY NOT LIMITED TO LOSS, DAMAGE OR INJURY ARISING OUT
OF, OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE SERVICE OR APPLICATION

This directly states that you are unable to act against the Uber company if you
are injured in one of their cars, whether by the driver or car itself. Uber takes no
responsibility as a company and places all of the blame elsewhere. To avoid
blame, Uber classifies itself as a technology company in its licensing
agreements, and not as a transportation one. In the terms and services, and I
quote, THE COMPANY DOES NOT PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION
SERVICES, AND THE COMPANY IS NOT A TRANSPORTATION CARRIER. IT
IS UP TO THE THIRD PARTY TRANSPORTATION PROVIDER, DRIVER OR
VEHICLE OPERATOR TO OFFER TRANSPORTATION SERVICES WHICH
MAY BE SCHEDULED THROUGH USE OF THE APPLICATION OR
SERVICES.

This states that Uber puts all the responsibility on the third-party transportation
providers- the drivers. If anything happens to a customer, the Uber company can
not, in any way, be held accountable.This is a huge problem. To add on to the
list, another main flaw with the Uber system is its unfair pricing. An example is
its surge pricing which occurs when the companys rates increase due to a
higher demand and they are unable to provide enough cars to a certain area.
During these surge pricings Uber drivers rates can multiply up to 6.25 times
more expensive. One example, is a case of a woman who ordered a ride from
West L.A to Hollywood at 7 p.m. on a Saturday night. She was charged $357 for
a 14 mile drive. Uber states and I quote, that youll always be notified in big, bold
print if surge pricing is in effect but this woman claims that she received no
indicator of this dramatic price increase until she got her receipt. Ubers prices
are ever-shifting and extremely unstable.

When it cant reach its demand, instead of supplying more cars, Uber requires its
customers to pay more if they want a ride. On late night weekends, when people
cant get themselves home, Uber would be a helpful way to get home safely. But
Uber, knowing that there will be a high demand for cars at this time, exploits their
customers by increasing their fares. Nighttime is prime time for Uber, as well as
their increased rates. Uber takes advantage of its clients by charging them
ridiculous amounts. To add on to the increasing prices, Uber has put in place a
Safe Ride Fee as well. This fee piles on an additional $1 to the customers total
fare which is then given to the company to support better background checks,
driver safety education, motor vehicle checks and more.

Customers should not have to pay to insure better safety, it should already be
included. This fee should not be required, but yet there is no option. Uber riders
have no choice but to comply to surge prices and the Safe Ride Fee if they wish
to get a ride from this company. These add-ons should make the rider question
how legitimate Uber really is if they make their customers pay for their expenses.
If only people read the fine print, they would realize the many issues Uber has,
including those of liability and unfair pricing. The amount of negative aspects of
Uber drowns out the positive.
REBUTTALS:
Uber is cheaper
-nighttime fare
-up to 6.25x more.
-rates vary. taxis rates dont vary, always consistent bc regulated by the states.
-takes advantage of customers (drunk people)
-$1 fee
Uber is faster/more convenient
-safety first. wouldnt you want to be sure that your safe instead of on time?
-if you want immediate service, its likely youll have to pay more

Uber is safer/nicer/cleaner/newer/better drivers/you can see where ubers

are in relation to you
-background checks. only go back 7 years. many cases of people being hurt,
kidnapped/killed by drivers
-no boss overseeing where you are
-NIKA EXPERIENCE driver talking on phone, not a good driver
- inspections only 19 points, wont disclose how often. taxis have 250 point
inspections and if they fail they cant be in use. taxi vs uber experiment. check
engine and tire pressure on the uber car. that would fail the taxi inspection.
you can see a pic of driver and license plate picking you up so that you
know you're in the right car
- but the driver could still be horrible, all you have is a picture nothing more.

if youre an uber driver, you dont have to pay taxes

- that is solely what uber claims. they say the drivers will get 80/20 percent of
fares they make. multiple drivers have claimed that they they had to pay taxes,
gas, mileage and for car maintenance and repairs. I was spending time and
making $3 per hour.
you can text them to see where they are
-example of car driver keeping passengers number, texting her repeatedly.
Convenience of paying/theres no tipping or cash its all credit card
- you dont know how much youre paying because you connect your credit card
to the app and when you leave the transaction is made.
but dont you know before hand how much youre paying
- not necessarily, you can get out at any time

wouldn't you want the $1 to improve safety?

- Yes but Uber shouldnt need this extra money to improve their safety. the safety
should already be guaranteed. the business should have money to help
themselves instead of making the customers pay extra. It shouldnt be
mandatory.
background checks cannot predict the future
- from the start Uber should put their drivers through a stronger process, to all
around avoid the risk of failing background checks. the background checks only
go back 7 years. a driver who attacked a customer. he passed the background
check even though he had a large criminal history

2NC:
We believe that Uber should be banned because of the unsuccessful
background checks, safety issues and unfair licensing. Although Uber claims to
partake in extensive background checks, there have been numerous incidents
involving drivers. In one example, an Uber driver stalked, kidnapped and sexually
assaulted a young intoxicated women. Another driver held a customers phone
ransom for $500 after having left it in his car. In a recent, tragic event, a man was
bludgeoned to near blindness with a hammer by his Uber driver after an
argument regarding the route. Another driver with an intensive criminal record
passed the Ubers zero-tolerance policy with no problem, only to later assault
his passenger. All these drivers were supposedly background checked
rigorously, according to Uber. But these background checks only go back 7
years.

Some Uber drivers have even found ways to get around being background
checked. For example, an Uber driver anonymously confessed to sharing
accounts with a friend. He describes the process as cheating the system, where
one person signs up with Uber to get approved and the other person does the
driving. This system is too easily manipulated. The Safe Ride Fee clearly has
not been sufficient in attaining stronger background checks. Taxi drivers on the
other hand must go through a drug screening and fingerprinting process before
receiving their permit, which is significantly more in-depth than the single
application that Uber drivers must fill out. And as stated before, none of the
victims of these reckless and unsafe drivers are able to press charges against
the Uber company, as the company holds no liability for the damages and losses
the customers endure.

Again, to quote the Terms and Services YOU EXPRESSLY WAIVE AND
RELEASE THE COMPANY FROM ANY AND ALL ANY LIABILITY, CLAIMS OR
DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO THE THIRD
PARTY TRANSPORTATION PROVIDER. Such terms show how important it is
to know exactly what youre getting into when signing up with a program. Now to
switch topics, Uber is not sufficiently inspected. Uber cars go through a simple
19-point inspection and the company will not disclose how often these
inspections occur. To give an idea of an adequate inspection, taxis require a 250point inspection more than 3 times a year. In an experiment conducted by a
North Carolina news station, an Uber car was tested and it was found that the car
had the check engine and tire pressure light on- which would not have passed a
taxi inspection. This shows how low Ubers standards are and how low of a
priority safety is to them.

Another issue with the Uber company, is that there is no boss overseeing the
Uber drivers activities. This means that the Uber driver is able to go wherever
they please because no one is monitoring their location. The location of the car is
only checked up on if a report or complaint is filed. And despite having a GPS in
the car, no one other than the driver and passenger are aware of the cars
whereabouts. We earlier stated an example of a woman who ordered a ride from
West L.A to Hollywood. Her ride was supposed to be a total of 12 miles. Her
driver however, took a longer route, making the distance instead 14 miles. Her
Uber driver took her further than necessary, which contributed to her $357 ride.
Taxi drivers bosses always know where a taxi is en route and what the
destination is, to ensure that there is no chance of a taxi driver going off course
without there being any harsh consequences.

And again, to compare Uber to taxi companies, Taxi drivers must go through a
long process of receiving their medallion. To accomplish this, they must earn
their chauffeur license, attend a taxi school and take a defensive driving course
to receive their state-issued medallion which allows them to legally operate a
taxi. Uber only requires drivers to have their own insurance and drivers license,
which is simply not enough. Uber customers are putting their safety at risk every
time they use the Uber app. These issues all represent the faults in the Uber
system and clearly explain why it should be banned.