• rhandyrhoads@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Massive disclaimer before this whole paragraph that this person’s actions are abhorrent and totally unjustified. Just want to provide some perspective on a single relatively minor point.

    Regarding the unmarked uber it’s actually more common than you’d think. In some cities uber will send you a little decal you’re meant to put in the windshield of your car, but it could easily be missed and some drivers who maybe only drive a couple times a month may choose to not have that on display everywhere they go. Uber actually states that you’re only supposed to have it installed while you’re active in the app, but I don’t think it would last very long if you peeled it off and stored it in your car or on a shelf every time you needed to go to the grocery store let alone if you drive for personal reasons on a daily basis. Personally when I was driving uber with that decal provided I chose to just keep it on my windshield, but there’s no enforcement of that policy unless people scanned all your windows before getting in and decided that your license plate matching the app wasn’t enough evidence to get in your car.

    In the previous city I drove uber (albeit it was only around 80k population) they didn’t provide any sort of markings. Plenty of uber drivers had signs, but those light up signs in particular are actually sold by third parties and as a result you need to pay out of pocket to get one. While I did choose to invest in a phone mount which is about the same price, I refused on principle to use my own money to buy signage.

    So in short I can assure you that there are plenty of uber drivers in unmarked cars, either due to signage which doesn’t meet drivers’ needs or a lack of any signage provided by uber.

    • jordanlund@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      For the sticker thing, we had this solution waaaaaaay back in the day when I was in college…

      Parking sticker had to be displayed, but if you didn’t want to permanently mount it to one car, you did this:

      Take the lid off a casette tape case, put the sticker on that, put the lid on the dashboard. Take it with you when you don’t need it.

      I guess nowadays you’d use the lid off a CD case. :)