# Re "self driving cars" people talk as if this is a few years away. This seems nuts to me. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 26, 2016, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074 "2016-08-26T23:18:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/161 "2016-12-16T05:46:03Z")
Somebody want to clue me in on the Uber hate? ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/162 "2016-12-16T08:38:50Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > The legal issues need to be sorted out. Obviously, the car has an algorithm for the situation of if you have to hit the other vehicle or the pedestrian, which one do you hit? > > Lawsuits up the wazoo are waiting. Which one do you hit? There are a number of ways to solve this problem. Using hive mind tech to decide what the best choice of action is given a specific scenario, or look at legal precedent. Which one results in fewer and less expensive lawsuits. Given that a computer’s reaction time is significantly faster than a human’s, that alone will decrease the chances of these scenarios happening. > [@Voyager](#): > > Even if true, the guy driving unsafely will claim the self-driving car is at fault, and if the “driver” of that car wasn’t paying attention, might win. I witnessed an accident where the guy 110% at fault tried to blame the woman driving the car he hit. As mentioned by an earlier poster, given the amount of information a sdc would need, it would have all the necessary information for a clear picture of what caused the accident and everyone’s reactions to it. I would hazard a guess that the days of insurance scams where someone cuts quickly in front of your car and slams on the brakes would be over as well. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/163 "2016-12-16T20:21:54Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Somebody want to clue me in on the Uber hate? Uber has basically violated taxi regulations all over the world. And is violating employment regulations all over the world. “Move fast and break things” is a fine motto for an innovative business. Until the thing you decide you’re going to break is the law. Break cartels & conventions & “the way it’s always been done”? Sure. But in accordance with what the law says, not what you wish it said. Unilaterally declaring that the law doesn’t apply to you because of some transparent fig leaf excuse is anti-social garbage that has no place in an advanced civilization. If they’re harbingers of the future, it’s a piratical one of businesses deciding which laws they like and which they don’t. Hint: real soon they’ll like none at all if these guys aren’t stopped in their tracks. Damn near any business can be a competitive success once it decides to play by only the rules it likes. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/164 "2016-12-16T23:27:40Z")
Eh, taxis are a useless monopoly. I have no problem with companies that try to break monopolistic powers. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/165 "2016-12-17T00:01:25Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Uber has basically violated taxi regulations all over the world. And is violating employment regulations all over the world. They’re not a taxi service, and in most parts of the world, they’re still not an employer. For the most part, governments are recognizing this. In some spots, the government and activist courts are not recognizing this. Overall, the question is still open. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/166 "2016-12-17T01:50:53Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Eh, taxis are a useless monopoly. I have no problem with companies that try to break monopolistic powers. +1. Taxis have provided substandard service in my area. I have little love for them. I am happy to pay more for Uber than a cab. (And I do with the tips I leave.) ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/167 "2016-12-17T11:04:19Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Uber has basically violated taxi regulations all over the world. > > \ > > Break cartels & conventions & “the way it’s always been done”? Sure. But in accordance with what the law says, not what you wish it said. What do you do when taxi regulations exist solely to create and protect a taxi cartel? If Uber didn’t break taxi regulations, operate outside the existing cartel, there would be no Uber. The clear improvement they have made in the ‘car for hire’ market would not exist at all, and there would be no pressure to change. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/168 "2016-12-17T14:30:32Z")
What part of “change the law using democratic means” is so hard for people to accept? The problem with Uber is it’s in exactly the same moral sphere as any other example of “The law doesn’t apply to me because I’m special”. I have a feeling the USA is about to have a 4 or maybe 50 year lesson in why that’s a bad thing. It’s not as if there aren’t plenty of other historical or current international examples to look at. Greece, Italy, and Russia in the last 30-ish years are all good, but very different, examples of how well that attitude works for the public at large. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/169 "2016-12-17T14:40:04Z")
The idea that a company breaking monopolistic practices is in any way similar to autocracy is laughable. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/170 "2016-12-17T14:42:44Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > What part of “change the law using democratic means” is so hard for people to accept? > > The problem with Uber is it’s in exactly the same moral sphere as any other example of “The law doesn’t apply to me because I’m special”. > > I have a feeling the USA is about to have a 4 or maybe 50 year lesson in why that’s a bad thing. It’s not as if there aren’t plenty of other historical or current international examples to look at. Greece, Italy, and Russia in the last 30-ish years are all good, but very different, examples of how well that attitude works for the public at large. I confess I don’t see what the problem is with the Uber business model in its current form. It is another option to get me from a to b, an alternative to existing taxis. As a consumer I approve and I suspect that that the only people who don’t are the existing taxi owners. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/171 "2016-12-17T22:37:55Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > What do you do when taxi regulations exist solely to create and protect a taxi cartel? …this is what Uber is getting up to at the moment in San Francisco: > [@](#): > > California regulators ordered Uber to remove its self-driving vehicles from the road on the same day that the company’s vehicles were caught running red lights – violations the company immediately blamed on “human error”. > > … > > Despite that stated mandate from a government agency, Uber declared in a blogpost that it did not believe it needed a “testing permit” to launch self-driving vehicles in San Francisco, arguing that the rules don’t apply since the cars have people in them monitoring movements. > > “Most states see the potential benefits, especially when it comes to road safety,” wrote Anthony Levandowski, head of Uber’s advanced technology group. His post announcing the Wednesday launch noted the Volvo XC90s’ “core safety capabilities”. > **[Uber blames humans for self-driving car traffic offenses as California orders...](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/14/uber-self-driving-cars-run-red-lights-san-francisco)** > > Regulators ordered Uber to take self-driving cars off roads in San Francisco and company suspends drivers after vehicles were caught running red lights They’ve been ordered off the road: Uber’s response was “fuck you.” What has any of this got to do with “breaking the taxi cartels?” Uber has been a disaster in New Zealand. They complied with the law for a while. The law requires any drivers who drive passengers for “hire or reward” to have a P Endorsement on their licence. Earlier this year Uber told their drivers that they didn’t need to have this endorsement, then they dropped their fares by 20%. This screwed over the drivers who had been following the law: who had invested the required $2000 for the licence (which includes medical tests and a “fit and proper person” test) and were paying their taxes and were running their Uber businesses as proper businesses as they had their income drop by 20% and put them into competition with other Uber drivers who didn’t have the same overheads. (Many of these drivers quit the business when Uber dropped their fares because the business became uneconomical) And this screwed over the drivers who signed up and didn’t follow the law: because those drivers got pulled off the road and fined. Uber here tells its drivers that they only need to take out third party insurance when third party insurance wouldn’t cover them in an accident here (they need commercial insurance.) They are a bad corporate citizen: paying less than $10,000 tax on 1 million dollars of income. Uber are a bad company. There is nothing inherently wrong with “drive sharing.” But Uber don’t want to follow the rules, they treat their drivers like shit and they don’t pay their dues. And I’m only talking about New Zealand. Each and every other place in the world where they have entered the market can tell a similar story. > **[Uber encouraging insurance fraud - driver](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/318793/uber-encouraging-insurance-fraud-driver)** > > Uber is encouraging its drivers to commit insurance fraud, according to an Auckland driver, but the company says its own insurance covers them all. > **[Anger over Uber's advice for drivers to break law](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/308102/anger-over-uber's-advice-for-drivers-to-break-law)** > > Some Uber drivers are angry at the company for telling them to break the law by not abiding by the regulations for carrying paying passengers. > **[Uber drivers taken to court by NZTA - NZ Herald](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/uber-drivers-taken-to-court-by-nzta/FVZZEFCLZMLSXX4UF3BHEQTRLI/?c_id=1&objectid=11743375)** > > The New Zealand Transport Agency has issued no-drive notices to Uber drivers operating with serious medical conditions. > **[42-p-endor.pdf](https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources/factsheets/42/docs/42-p-endor.pdf)** ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/172 "2016-12-17T23:05:42Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > What do you do when taxi regulations exist solely to create and protect a taxi cartel? > > If Uber didn’t break taxi regulations, operate outside the existing cartel, there would be no Uber. The clear improvement they have made in the ‘car for hire’ market would not exist at all, and there would be no pressure to change. So I’m starting my own [del]police[/del]security force, which I’ll call Fury. People will use an app to let me and my goons, er, I mean my _associates_ know where there is trouble and we’ll go put a stop to it. Fury will go ahead and set up a “court system” too, so that the “jails” are “legitimate”. Fury can do this because any laws that say Fury can’t operate don’t apply because Fury isnt doing what they say is illegal, it’s completely different because there’s an app. If Fury didn’t break laws and exist outside the existing police cartel, there would be no Fury. The clear improvement in the “force for hire” market would not exist at all, and there would be no pressure to change. Right? :dubious: :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![DirtyRead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@DirtyRead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirtyRead)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/173 "2016-12-17T23:54:12Z")
It will be under 15 years. I think any accidents are just going to execrate the programs instead of sideline. The safest scenario for AI cars is total share of the road meaning zero human drivers. Any accidents will be blamed on the human element until privately owned cars are just a distant memory. That may take a little longer then 15years but once these culture crushing cars start rolling it will snowball faster then the Patriot Act. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/174 "2016-12-18T13:07:37Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > So I’m starting my own [del]police[/del]security force, which I’ll call Fury. People will use an app to let me and my goons, er, I mean my _associates_ know where there is trouble and we’ll go put a stop to it. Fury will go ahead and set up a “court system” too, so that the “jails” are “legitimate”. > > Fury can do this because any laws that say Fury can’t operate don’t apply because Fury isnt doing what they say is illegal, it’s completely different because there’s an app. > > If Fury didn’t break laws and exist outside the existing police cartel, there would be no Fury. The clear improvement in the “force for hire” market would not exist at all, and there would be no pressure to change. > > Right? > > :dubious: > > :rolleyes: You clearly have no idea what Uber is or how it works, the fact that it has an app is irrelevant to whether it’s breaking the law or not. You also seem to be unaware that private security companies are very much a thing - and that, like Uber, they operate within the existing laws, and act to get laws they disagree with changed. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/175 "2016-12-18T16:42:04Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > You clearly have no idea what Uber is or how it works, the fact that it has an app is irrelevant to whether it’s breaking the law or not. > > You also seem to be unaware that private security companies are very much a thing - and that, like Uber, they operate within the existing laws, and act to get laws they disagree with changed. You clearly have no idea why I wrote what I wrote, nor how Uber works. Uber does not, as a default, work within the law. Sometimes, after they have been forced to stop offering their services, they have worked to change the laws to suit themselves (my own state of Nevada is one where they did that), but it is a fact that their default has demonstrably not been “working within the law”. Uber has attempted from the start to claim that they are not a service that provides vehicles that transports people from one place to another; they are not a “ride sharing” company any more than a restaurant is a “food sharing” company. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/176 "2016-12-18T16:50:31Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > any more than a restaurant is a “food sharing” company. you just gave me an idea for a startup. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/177 "2016-12-18T17:00:28Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Uber has attempted from the start to claim that they are not a service that provides vehicles that transports people from one place to another; they are not a “ride sharing” company any more than a restaurant is a “food sharing” company. Uber doesn’t own the vehicle, the drivers are self employed and use the software platform from Uber to organise the rides. The driver keeps most of the money and Uber takes a cut. It certainly sounds like a ride-sharing setup. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/178 "2016-12-18T17:06:09Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Uber doesn’t own the vehicle, the drivers are self employed and use the software platform from Uber to organise the rides. > The driver keeps most of the money and Uber takes a cut. > > It certainly sounds like a ride-sharing setup. so you think most Uber drivers are actually going somewhere near their passengers’ destinations? I highly, highly doubt that to be the case. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/179 "2016-12-18T17:26:26Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Uber doesn’t own the vehicle, the drivers are self employed and use the software platform from Uber to organise the rides. > The driver keeps most of the money and Uber takes a cut. > > It certainly sounds like a ride-sharing setup. Your post contains a number of assertions, I’ll grant you that. :rolleyes: I’ll also grant you that those assertions are mostly wrong. Uber does sometimes own the vehicle. [ > [@](#): > > As Uber continues to evolve beyond just dominating on-demand rides, the company is furthering its bets on leasing cars to drivers. Uber announced today a new pilot program, called Xchange Leasing, allowing Uber to directly lease cars to its UberX drivers. UberX is the ride-sharing company’s cheapest ride service. > Uber previously launched a leasing program in the U.S. in late 2013. ]([Uber leases cars to UberX drivers | Fortune](http://fortune.com/2015/07/29/uber-car-leases/))[ > [@](#): > > Behind the shiny veneer of Uber’s venture capital–backed technological innovation lies a time-tested business model: labor exploitation. Uber’s latest scheme is a new spin on the age-old practice of sharecropping. Struggling to find enough drivers willing to put miles on their own cars, Uber recently began offering subprime auto loans to would-be drivers, conveniently extracting payments directly from their paychecks, or (because Uber insists its drivers aren’t its employees) their “Uber earnings.” Since last July, Uber and its wholly owned subsidiary, Xchange Leasing, have partnered with auto dealerships, advertised to drivers, and even repossessed cars from drivers who lag in their payments. ]([Uber’s car leasing program turns its drivers into modern-day sharecroppers](http://qz.com/700473/ubers-car-leasing-program-turns-its-drivers-into-modern-day-sharecroppers/))Also, who do you think owns Uber’s self-driving cars? :dubious: When Uber has been challenged, both in court and with Departments of Labor, Uber drivers have been found to be employees, not self-employed contractors.[ > [@](#): > > Uber drivers have the same employment rights as other full-time employees in Britain, a court has ruled in a landmark decision which looks likely to send shockwaves through the nation’s so-called “gig economy.” > > The ruling means that drivers are now entitled to earn the national minimum wage, holiday pay, sick pay, and other benefits, after the San Francisco-based taxi firm lost a case brought against them by two drivers backed by the GMB union. Uber had argued that it was a tech firm rather than a transport one, and that as its drivers were self-employed contractors it was not obliged to provide the kinds of statutory employment rights full-time workers would expect. ]([Court: Uber drivers are company employees not self-employed contractors | Ars Technica](http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/10/uber-drivers-employees-uk-court-ruling/))[ > [@](#): > > California became the latest state to weigh in on the issue of Uber’s longstanding practice of classifying its drivers as independent contractors, rather than employees. ]([California Uber Driver: Employee or Independent Contractor? | Nolo](http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/california-labor-commissioner-rules-uber-driver-employee-not-independent-contractor.html))[ > [@](#): > > Two drivers who were fired by the popular, car-for-hire app Uber can be considered former company employees and not freelancers, qualifying them for unemployment benefits. That’s the result of a decision by the State Department of Labor. ]([Uber Drivers Are Employees, New York Agency Finds | WNYC | New York Public Radio, Podcasts, Live Streaming Radio, News](http://www.wnyc.org/story/uber-drivers-are-employees-new-york-agency-finds/))Ah, the old “it’s an app so it’s different” argument. :rolleyes: There’s no such thing as “ride sharing” for a fee any more than there’s such a thing as “food sharing” (or any other kind of sharing involving a fee). It doesn’t matter that you call your horse a cow, it’s still a horse. Up is not down, down is not sideways and Uber is in the business of transporting people from one place to another. Their basic business model involves exploiting labor and flouting the law. Fuck Uber. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074/180 "2016-12-18T17:37:06Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Uber doesn’t own the vehicle, the drivers are self employed and use the software platform from Uber to organise the rides. > The driver keeps most of the money and Uber takes a cut. > > It certainly sounds like a ride-sharing setup. We have a metropolitan taxi service that functions as a non-profit co-op, organizing and dispatching a bunch of privately owned and operated cabs. Just like Uber, except, operating within the law. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-self-driving-cars-people-talk-as-if-this-is-a-few-years-away-this-seems-nuts-to-me/764074.md?page=10)