{"id":16467,"date":"2014-09-25T14:44:07","date_gmt":"2014-09-25T19:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=16467"},"modified":"2014-09-26T00:34:40","modified_gmt":"2014-09-26T05:34:40","slug":"oxford-alderman-jay-hughes-speaks-out-about-uber-and-drivers-for-hire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/oxford-alderman-jay-hughes-speaks-out-about-uber-and-drivers-for-hire\/","title":{"rendered":"Oxford Alderman Jay Hughes Speaks Out About Uber and “Drivers For Hire”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oxford, Mississippi<\/strong> Alderman Jay Hughes<\/strong> is speaking out against the ride sharing\/delivery company Uber<\/strong><\/a>, which is fast taking over taxi services across America and Oxford. <\/span><\/p>\n

Uber\u00a0is valued at $18.2 Billion dollars, and even recently hired\u00a0President Obama’s former campaign manager, David Plouffe<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to help break what it calls the “Taxi Cartel”<\/a> in the United States, by litigating “antiquated taxi laws.”\u00a0\"Uber-logo\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The company is very successful and\u00a0consumers are flocking to use Uber’s\u00a0services across America. <\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, Uber is now generating more money in San Francisco<\/a> than the entire taxi industry there. <\/span><\/p>\n

Uber is fast expanding, and they are going into the delivery business, too, competing with FedEx<\/strong> and UPS<\/strong>.<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As Oxford rapidly expands in population and swells with tens of thousands of tourists each weekend, Uber is poised to be successful here.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alderman Hughes recently drafted Oxford’s new taxi ordinance this past summer, but as The Local Voice<\/em> noted before the law was passed<\/a>, Hughes’ taxi ordinance did not address new companies like Uber, and a\u00a0similar successful company, Lyft<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alderman Hughes sent out an email this morning to The Local Voice<\/em>\u00a0that addressed the conflict between this private business and the City of Oxford<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“I have had a couple of inquires as a result of a full-page advertisement in The Daily Mississippian<\/em> in which Uber<\/strong> is seeking \u201cdrivers\u201d in Oxford.\u00a0The ad seemingly represents that the only requirements to be a \u201cdriver for hire\u201d in Oxford is to have a valid drivers license and personal automobile insurance.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

This is not accurate and it is important to make sure people understand what the requirements are in order to be a driver for hire in\u00a0Oxford.<\/span><\/p>\n

I personally think Uber is an excellent concept and welcome it to Oxford.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

However, as for the drivers, there are very specific insurance and safety requirements in Oxford and Mississippi that have been enacted to protect drivers and passengers in vehicles for hire.\u00a0 These deal with background checks, insurance and security cameras.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Every local company is complying with these requirements.\u00a0 Some of our local operators are working folks for whom this is their only source of income, and they may only own a single taxi.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Less than two weeks after the new ordinances went into effect, Uber drivers appeared without meeting any of the legal requirements, and putting its drivers at an unfair advantage over the law-abiding drivers and operators in our town.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

This also exposes passengers to the risk of an accident with no insurance coverage, and drivers without proper background checks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most personal auto insurance policies specifically reject coverage when the driver is operating the vehicle for a fee.\u00a0 This is why Oxford specifically requires insurance with \u201cTaxi\u201d or \u201cFor Hire\u201d coverage.\u00a0 It is a totally different policy from personal insurance, and done to protect the passengers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Oxford,<\/a>
Oxford, Mississippi Ward 1 Alderman Jay Hughes. Photograph by Newt Rayburn – The Local Voice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The laws Oxford adopted are about fairness and safety.\u00a0 Oxford will vigorously enforce its laws and charge any driver operating without the proper permit, taxi decal and insurance requirements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0A few of the Oxford Vehicle for Hire<\/strong> ordinance requirements are\u00a0generally\u00a0as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Each vehicle insured $100,000-$300,000-$100,000 (Sec 118-20(a))<\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Proof of insurance sent to City Clerk\u2019s office<\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Each driver and company must fill out application and submit to City Clerk\u2019s office for approval by Mayor and Board of Aldermen<\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Driver must always carry city issued license \u2013 cost is $50.00 (Section 118-25)<\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Driver must possess a Class D License and have a valid state driver\u2019s license<\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Adhere to maximum fares (Section 118-25)<\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Each vehicle for hire must be clean, have a State of MS inspection sticker, must have a company logo and a city issued medallion with license number on the side (Section 118-26)<\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All taxicabs must be equipped with safety camera system. (Section 118-32)<\/span><\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All taxicabs must be inspected by OPD prior to use. (Section 118-32)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jay Hughes
\nWard 1 Alderman
\nJayHughesForWard1@gmail.com”
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The City of Oxford has already been ticketing Uber drivers<\/a> and are threatening to arrest them, too, but the company says, “Uber vigorously defends the rights of our driver partners, and will cover the costs of unjust citations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

At this point, it may be inevitable that the City of Oxford and Uber will end up in court. <\/span><\/p>\n

The question is, does the City of Oxford have the resources to litigate against a company that has $18.2 Billion?<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oxford, Mississippi Alderman Jay Hughes is speaking out against the ride sharing\/delivery company Uber, which is fast taking<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,1],"tags":[38,1309,4379,4382,4378,1447,1094,3801,5,4,4380,3623,4381,4377],"class_list":["post-16467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-business","category-uncategorized","tag-board-of-aldermen","tag-business","tag-city-of-oxford","tag-david-plouffe","tag-driver-for-hire","tag-jay-hughes","tag-local","tag-lyft","tag-mississippi","tag-oxford","tag-oxford-vehicle-for-hire","tag-taxi","tag-taxi-cartel","tag-uber"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/2014-09-25-Uber.jpg?fit=620%2C349&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}