Re: Private transactions between individuals - none of the government's business!
OK I'll bite ...
> I do freelance auto repair. I have no license, no ASE certifications, the government hasn't approved my abilities to fix cars. Is this illegal?
Staying UK here, no it's not. There is no legal compulsion for a car repair business to have a license. There are other legal requirements - such as declaring your business to the tax authorities.
> A man stands beside a road with his thumb out. A motorist stops and offers him a ride, for some gas and lunch money. They motor along for a while, passenger gets out, pays the driver some cash.
> Is this illegal?
That depends.
If the passenger simply offers some cash then it's not illegal. If the driver stops, and offers to take the passenger in return for some reward (doesn't have to be cash, any consideration will do) then that's "hire or reward" which is different.
Ignoring for a second the requirement to have a hackney carriage license to stop and pick up a passenger who flags you down, few people are insured to use their car for hire or reward - so unless you have paid (quite a bit) extra for that insurance, you would now not have valid insurance for the car. That is illegal (bar certain exception that won't apply to anyone I know).
IMO Uber is not all that dissimilar to a "taxi" (private hire) firm using freelance drivers. There's no reason to not allow it - provided they obey the law. Others have already expressed why we have laws on hackney carriage and private hire - it's mainly to protect the public, both those using the service and those sharing the roads. Private hire outfits are governed by fairly strict rules on vehicle condition (tougher and more frequent "MoT") and drivers (such as carrying ID and having had background checks).
IMO Uber should do one of 2 things :
1) They should obey the law as it is. That means they properly check all their drivers to make sure that they are "fit persons" do be carrying fare paying passengers, and they should check all the vehicles to make sure they are both roadworthy and insured. AFAICT they do neither of these.
2) They should campaign for the law to be changed - not just for them, but for all private hire outfits.
Yes - roll back all that red tape which is there to stop people being subjected to (in a small % of cases) travel in unroadworthy vehicles, without insurance, and driven by people they probably wouldn't want to share space with if they knew their background.
So, are you arguing that if your daughter got in a random car - you'd not be in any way bothered whether the car is insured and roadworthy, and that the driver isn't a convicted rapist ?