I'm not sure how it is in each country uber operates in, but in the US, they do appear to have insurance in place on top of whatever the driver might carry on their own.

http://blog.uber.com/ridesharinginsurance

Call me old-fashioned, but Uber is one of those companies I avoid on moral grounds. They exploit their drivers, shift liability onto their customers in opaque ways, and have a cavalier / mocking / dismissive attitude toward personal privacy.

Because the "taxi mafia" has undue influence in many places is not an excuse for bullying or otherwise nasty behavior.

I think it is safer than a taxi.

I think it is safer than a taxi in many but not all markets.

Complete deregulation of even things like pricing in taxi or taxi-like service isn't always great for the consumers. Some of the worst taxi rip-offs I've seen have been in Sweden where the industry's pricing is as unregulated as I've seen it anywhere. That said, I do generally prefer that the barriers to competitor entry be very low for this industry.

It certainly is a better experience than a taxi. After a bunch of really bad experiences with taxis all over the US, I've made the decision to only use taxis when there are no other options. And I like that Uber forces its way into markets where the politicians have been bought and paid for by the taxi industry. Once there, the politicians have a tough time getting rid of Uber since the service is so much better than anything the taxi industry provides.

Wonder if ÜBER contributes to any politician in the US ? or elsewhere ?

They spend huge amounts of money on lobbying, though in California I understand that they spent that money to oppose politicians who are trying to further regulate the industry. The problem in the US is that the local politicians have been in the pockets of the taxi industry for so long that they have no interest in allowing a needed service like Uber to operate. Once Uber is in a place, it's hard to get rid of them because the voters generally love the much better service. At that point, the politicians start looking at more reasonable regulations.

I strongly dislike Uber's more recent frat-boy antics, but I am a huge fan of the way they are forcing political change that is desperately needed in most US cities. And I'm not at all concerned about safety when I use Uber, whereas I generally am when I use a regulated taxi. The taxi industry loves to talk up their safeguards, but I can't tell you how many times I've gotten in a taxi where the driver smelled strongly of marijuana and the back seat lacked seat belts. Top that off with drivers who forget to use deodorant, who long haul, and who argue about whether to take a credit card, and I see no reason to ever use a cab again. Complaints regarding taxi drivers seem to go into a black hole, whereas the three times I've needed to send in something about an Uber driver, I got a satisfactory response within an hour.

Uber does it better; its executives just dig up information the personal lives of its critics and their families to use it against them (link).

OK, on the serious side, Uber hired David Plouffe, Obama's 2008 campaign manager, to explain its mission (link), and uses the services of experienced political operators to smooth its expansion throughout the US (link).

WWow ! They have gone farther than the aforementioned Taxi Mafia and bought politicians !

Sounds like typical big business. Just like what the airline and lodging industry players too do to try to get their way in the markets of relevance to them.

It's clear you have a personal axe to grind with Uber. Are you just mad about how much better the experience actually is or something? Did they do something to you personally?

The dinner party reference to digging up dirt on a reporter's family was totally out of line and something no company should be doing. Run of the mill lobbying, which is what the other links appear to be about, is nothing shocking. The taxi industry has done it for years, and the result has been that the public has suffered. Uber is helping to fix that problem.

Out of line? In some ways yes, but at least it was an honest reflection on concerns had and methods used.

Companies and the government do it -- directly and/or indirectly. The way stories get buried or journalists get "guidance" has a long and ugly history that continues to this day in the country where that spokesperson spoke.

Pardon me for not being an enthusiastic lemming.

I have used Uber Taxi while traveling abroad and found it to be quite good.

However, I do not care for Uber's substandard and virtually worthless background checks for their drivers, and their lackadaisical approach to insurance (link). I find Uber's attempts to slither away from responsibility for accidents caused by their drivers to be particularly repugnant (link).

If drivers carry their own insurance, does anyone know of claims and dispositions ?