How safe is Uber?

 Kenyans have in the recent past accepted and acknowledged the presence and existence of Uber, the advanced taxi service that took the country by storm. It became a household name with even the adamant customers like me who don’t take taxis as a proper means of transportation, for my own personal reasons. But, I have since changed my mind with the introduction of this new development in the transport industry.

With that said, it is good to look at Uber with a microscopic eye. You can call me pessimistic or just plain cautious, but I need to pose this question out there; “How safe is Uber?” yesterday one of the cabs in Kenya was reduced to ashes after the recent wars with the local cab association escalated, we all know that it was one of those ignorant and rigid taxi drivers still living in the stone age days.

They say a change is better than a rest, but is it the case with these ignorant drivers? The Uber management should know that for a fact and this is free advice, that the perpetrator is someone who is on the network or uses the App.  How did he know the whereabouts of the cab and if it’s under Uber or not? The App simply lets you know the direction of the cabs and also the driver’s name and the car registration number. If that isn’t a sitting duck, then only the Lord knows who might use all this information and for what gains. We had an incident in the recent past of taxis being hired and ferried to Isiolo and Kisii to be cut to pieces and later resold into the black market as parts.

In the US, in Kalamazoo, Michigan an Uber driver opened fire to his customers and other people, killing 8 and injuring one girl to the point of brain death. So I pose yet another question; “Did these Uber guys come to Kenya and involve the local taxi operators?”, for if they did, then we wouldn’t have all these issues with the locals. Who knows what else they might do, but Uber needs to shape up or shape out before making their intended profits.