"The service uses non-professional drivers who may not be licensed or insured, raising safety concerns. Some have poor local knowledge so potentially offer a poor customer experience."
Is this really common in France? To have an abundance of unlicensed and uninsured motorists? I thought that was against the law in most countries. I wouldn't think this would be a specific issue with Uber drivers if its the case where this is common.
Also, doesn't Uber use people who live the areas they drive in? How would they have poor knowledge of an area they live in?
It is, actually, an issue specific to driving businesses, and Uber is far more lenient than the law.
Uninsured and unlicensed drivers are normally very rare because many, many people in large cities such as Paris (where Taxis services thrive) very rarely drive. Companies such as Uber incentivize unlicensed and uninsured motorists to drive by making it profitable with seemingly far less control than existing businesses, hence the panic reaction and public debate on the matter.
Paris is relatively small but very dense, and can be maze-like. You can live in Paris and be completely lost a few hundred meters away from your place. Streets and directions are hard to follow and remember, and distances are skewed by traffic, one-way-streets, pedestrian zones, bus lanes and cycle lanes. Some streets open and close depending on the hour of the day/night or the season. It can seriously be a mess and you simply can't assume you're going to be a decent professional Parisian driver just because you live in Paris.
Lastly we all have a proper ID, so it's absolutely viable not to have a driver's license at all (provided you don't drive). Driving itself in Paris is generally a time-sink and a money sink. You only drive when you don't have a choice. For me, that's only when I'm on holiday away from the city.
Insurance is another matter, and yes it's illegal to drive an uninsured vehicle, and you also need a special license to drive for profit.
Should that service become popular, You may very well start to see recently arrived immigrants ( or even illegal ones) being exploited by mob-like networks to operate as cab drivers.
But at the moment, i highly doubt that's the main scenario, by far.
"The service uses non-professional drivers who may not be licensed or insured, raising safety concerns. Some have poor local knowledge so potentially offer a poor customer experience."
Is this really common in France? To have an abundance of unlicensed and uninsured motorists? I thought that was against the law in most countries. I wouldn't think this would be a specific issue with Uber drivers if its the case where this is common.
Also, doesn't Uber use people who live the areas they drive in? How would they have poor knowledge of an area they live in?