The United States has strict access and heavy supervision, and the ride-hailing platform is responsible for related accidents
Whenever something new appears in the world, there is always a process of gradual acceptance. In recent years, the Internet car-hailing (hereinafter referred to as "online car-hailing") that has gradually become popular around the world is no exception. Even in the United States, where "online car-hailing" appeared earlier, it has gone through a tortuous journey from illegal to legal.
Driver and vehicle access are strict
In the United States, local legislatures and governments are responsible for the legislation and regulation of online car-hailing. The first state to recognize the legality of online car-hailing was California, the birthplace of Uber. In September 2013, the state’s transportation regulator formulated regulations for online platforms. The first state legislation to recognize the legality of online car-hailing was Colorado (June 2014). Subsequently, the Washington, D.C. legislature also passed legislation in November 2014 to legalize online car-hailing. So far, at least 23 states in the United States have recognized the legality of online car-hailing.
Local legislatures in the United States have quite strict requirements on the access of ride-hailing drivers and vehicles. Although drivers and owners do not need to apply to the government or regulatory agencies, the safety verification of private cars and drivers joining the platform company is quite strict, and the legislation also sets specific requirements for vehicle and driver liability insurance.
First, in terms of driver access, drivers who apply for online car-hailing must meet the following conditions: be at least 21 years old; have received specialized driving skills training, have a qualified and valid driver’s license and have relatively skilled driving skills; pass the national criminal background check and driving record verification; have purchased qualified insurance and a valid registered local vehicle. Some states require drivers to have more than three years of driving experience.
Second, in terms of vehicle access, the law requires private vehicles to join the platform company and complete a comprehensive safety inspection including 19 vehicle parts in accordance with regulations before providing service. After that, the platform company is obliged to ensure that the vehicle is subject to the same inspection every year and keep inspection records for review. Severely modified vehicles are prohibited from being used in ride-hailing operations. Legislation in some states requires operating vehicles to pass a comprehensive safety inspection by an authoritative certification body within 90 days before starting service, and every year thereafter; the vehicle should be a four-door vehicle with no more than eight seats (including the driver). The vehicle is not more than 10 years old before starting service; even if it is new, the service period cannot exceed 12 years.
Third, protect the interests of passengers. The entry requirements and supervision of ride-hailing drivers and vehicles by local legislatures in the United States are themselves measures to protect the safety and interests of passengers. In addition, state laws also have different provisions on vehicle insurance. California legislation requires vehicles that join the platform company to enjoy commercial liability insurance with an insurance amount of not less than $1 million for each accident related to the vehicle and the driver when providing service, and it must be publicized on the platform company’s mobile phone and website. Colorado’s bill requires each driver to purchase liability insurance for his vehicle not less than the legal limit. Before agreeing to the driver to join the online platform service, the platform company should review the evidence of the driver’s purchase of this insurance. In addition, the "Hire Car Innovation Amendment Law 2014" (hereinafter referred to as the "Innovation Law"), which covers ride-hailing, sets out detailed standards for liability insurance, seeking to eliminate any insurance gaps.
The government cooperates with online platforms to supervise
According to the laws of various states in the United States, there are no quantity and freight controls for online car-hailing. First, in most places in Europe and the United States, there are no quantity and freight controls for traditional phone-hailing car-hailing cars. Second, in the taxi booking service market, passengers have access to sufficient information to compare and identify the vehicles, services and price points of different car-hailing agencies. Therefore, the problem of information asymmetry is negligible, and it is even less necessary to implement quantity and freight controls for online car-hailing cars. However, the Innovation Act introduced by the legislature of Washington, D.C. stipulates that the freight rates of online car-hailing services must be regulated by law in the event of a government declaration of a state of emergency.
According to the legislation, the operation and safety supervision of online car-hailing in the United States is basically implemented by the government and the network platform in cooperation. The government formulates the access standards for vehicles, drivers and insurance, and the network platform bears the obligation and responsibility for implementing the standards. First, the government formulates the access standards for vehicles, drivers and insurance in accordance with the laws of the state, and at the same time appropriately regulates the operation of the network platform company; secondly, the network platform must apply to the regulatory agency for government license before starting business operations; thirdly, after obtaining the license, the platform company must undertake the operation management responsibility of managing the access of vehicles and drivers and daily supervision in accordance with the detailed access standards and operation requirements for vehicles, drivers and insurance formulated by the government.
In addition, Washington, D.C.’s Innovation Act has more detailed provisions on the protection of disadvantaged groups. Platform companies may not increase fees for people with disabilities to ride in online car-hailing services. Drivers of online car-hailing services must load the transportation equipment of people with disabilities when the vehicle conditions permit. The law also requires all platform companies to ensure that software settings for the blind, deaf, and severely hearing impaired are available on their websites and mobile apps by January 2016.
The platform company is responsible for compensation for the accident
In terms of passenger information protection, Washington, D.C.’s Innovation Act not only requires platform companies to report and certify compliance with operators’ operations to the Taxi Commission every year, but also has the authority to investigate and copy platform companies’ data on consumer protection. If problems are found, the Taxi Commission has the power to investigate and punish platform companies and operators for violations.
For the liability after the accident, the laws of Colorado in the United States include: the platform company’s insurance compensation amount for an accident should not be less than 1 million US dollars; second, if the driver logs in to the platform, but has not yet provided an appointment service, in this case, if a traffic accident occurs, the platform company shall bear at least 50,000 US dollars insurance compensation liability for each person in each accident, and shall bear the liability for compensation of not less than 100,000 US dollars for each accident, and for the property damage caused by the use of vehicles in each accident, bear the liability of not less than 30,000 US dollars; the driver does not log in to the platform or the driver logs in, but does not operate on the platform during the period, the platform company is not responsible for the driver’s behavior, and the relevant liability shall be borne by the driver.
The legalization of online car-hailing has changed the structure of the taxi and car-hailing market, enabling private cars and non-full-time drivers to provide transportation services to the public after meeting regulatory requirements. To a certain extent, this not only breaks the long-term monopoly of the car-hailing industry and eliminates the original boundary between operating vehicles and non-operating vehicles, but also creates opportunities for the restructuring of the taxi and car-hailing market, and also promotes profound changes in legal concepts and regulatory methods.