# Houston mayor: 50 percent of Uber driver applicants have criminal record



## Jesusdrivesuber (Jan 5, 2017)

The primary sticking point remains the requirement in Houston that prospective Uber drivers submit their fingerprints for an FBI background check.

Uber reluctantly abides by the rule but continues to ask the mayor to re-evaluate the need for such fingerprinting.

"The FBI fingerprinting database is widely reported to be inaccurate the majority of the time. We do have a fundamental disagreement on how to keep people safe," said Trevor Theunissen, Uber public affairs lead for Texas.

Theunissen stopped short of saying Uber would leave the market if Turner does not change his stance.

"Half the people who are coming to be drivers for Uber have some form of criminal record -- one-half the people applying," Turner said, referring to Houston-based applicants.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/i...f-uber-driver-applicants-have-criminal-record


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## SOLA-RAH (Dec 31, 2014)

I sure do hope that the mayor's check from the Teamsters cleared.


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## emdeplam (Jan 13, 2017)

less than i would have guessed

Uber believes in second chances


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## Uberyouber (Jan 16, 2017)

emdeplam said:


> less than i would have guessed
> 
> Uber believes in second chances


Yea that seems kinda low...


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## ginseng41 (Nov 30, 2014)

Gotta wonder what they mean by criminal record. I have one; I threw an apple core out the window which is a misdemeanor littering offense. It shoes up on my uber background check. Nobody in her right mind would care about something like that


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## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

ginseng41 said:


> Gotta wonder what they mean by criminal record. I have one; I threw an apple core out the window which is a misdemeanor littering offense. It shoes up on my uber background check. Nobody in her right mind would care about something like that


Were you fingerprinted for your littering ticket?


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## ginseng41 (Nov 30, 2014)

Nope but it's still technically a criminal record. I did have to declare it when I applied for global entry


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## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

ginseng41 said:


> Nope but it's still technically a criminal record. I did have to declare it when I applied for global entry


I guess that means I'll have to report my disturbing the peace conviction when I apply for Global Entry. Even though that was 30+ years ago and I was actually playing football in the street.


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## ginseng41 (Nov 30, 2014)

They are really checking to see if you are lying so tell them everything


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## SpeedracerX (Sep 26, 2016)

I took Uber in Houston 2 weeks ago for my friend's wedding ...
Let me tell you it was by far the worse Exprience of my life 
Dirty cars while drivers playing explicit chomp music ...no regards to being a professional at all
Got into one Fuber accident and also another cause the other Fuber driver was going wrong way on a ONE Way...unbelievable 
Two other Fubers drivers couldn't find me 
Even got picked up in a pick up truck ! 
Crazy and scary ...


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## Rakos (Sep 2, 2014)

SpeedracerX said:


> I took Uber in Houston 2 weeks ago for my friend's wedding ...
> Let me tell you it was by far the worse Exprience of my life
> Dirty cars while drivers playing explicit chomp music ...no regards to being a professional at all
> Got into one Fuber accident and also another cause the other Fuber driver was going wrong way on a ONE Way...unbelievable
> ...


Did he have a shootgun in the window rack???

It IS Houston you know...8)

Rakos


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## Ride-Share-Risk-Manager (Mar 16, 2017)

This is just an example of the race to bottom that is happening for Uber all across the USA. There is not an infinite supply of people willing to work for them. I hear horror stories daily from passengers about filthy broken down cars, drivers who are drunk and high, drivers who are clearly illegal immigrants without proper licenses and insurance. I started providing passengers with an e mail address to send their complaints. I send these on to Uber and Lyft (who get less complaints) . I also encourage passengers to checkout the Uberpeople site and to contribute to it. The more public negative feedback out there the quicker change will happen.


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## Red Leader (Sep 4, 2016)

observer said:


> I guess that means I'll have to report my disturbing the peace conviction when I apply for Global Entry. Even though that was 30+ years ago and I was actually playing football in the street.


So, you are a criminal. You shouldn't be allowed to transport people and your opinion is now suspect at best.


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## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

Red Leader said:


> So, you are a criminal. You shouldn't be allowed to transport people and your opinion is now suspect at best.


I never quite thought about it that way. I wonder if I deserve a second chance for good behavior since the "incident".


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## Red Leader (Sep 4, 2016)

observer said:


> I never quite thought about it that way. I wonder if I deserve a second chance for good behavior since the "incident".


Personally.....it makes no difference to me. I'm old enough to remember when people did stupid things, some quite serious, they were able to live it down after a while. We aren't talking child molesting, rape,or anything like that. But bar fights where someone could have, or did, end up needing some medical attention. Fighting with cops. Drunk enough in public to spend the night in jail. Partying just a little too hard. And so on.

Honestly, what self respecting cop arrests someone for playing football in the street?

My point, being poorly made, is that a criminal record isn't always what people think it is.


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## ginseng41 (Nov 30, 2014)

Or throwing an apple core out of the window


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## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

Red Leader said:


> Personally.....it makes no difference to me. I'm old enough to remember when people did stupid things, some quite serious, they were able to live it down after a while. We aren't talking child molesting, rape,or anything like that. But bar fights where someone could have, or did, end up needing some medical attention. Fighting with cops. Drunk enough in public to spend the night in jail. Partying just a little too hard. And so on.
> 
> Honestly, what self respecting cop arrests someone for playing football in the street?
> 
> My point, being poorly made, is that a criminal record isn't always what people think it is.


Out of 7 kids I was the only one over 18. My next door neighbor was a cop and his wife came out to vouch for me. It didn't matter.

Different times for sure.


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## Red Leader (Sep 4, 2016)

observer said:


> Out of 7 kids I was the only one over 18. My next door neighbor was a cop and his wife came out to vouch for me. It didn't matter.
> 
> Different times for sure.


some people shouldn't be cops. Problem is, we are seeing this more and more these days.


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## Jesusdrivesuber (Jan 5, 2017)

The only crime I've been accused off is being too good looking.


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## WeirdBob (Jan 2, 2016)

Jesusdrivesuber said:


> The only crime I've been accused off is being too good looking.


You were found "Not Guilty", correct?


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## UsedToBeAPartner (Sep 19, 2016)

This is the 2nd topic started on the same subject by the same poster. The reality is that what the Mayor of Houston is reporting is so vague that the numbers really have no meaning. Criminal record? Smoking weed? Drunk in public? Urinating in public? Disorderly conduct? Shoplifting? Murder?????? Sexual assault???? What those criminal records include make a huge difference in whether the applicant should or should not be an Uber driver. If the Mayor of Houston thinks that no one with a criminal record should be an Uber driver then he might want to take a closer look at the folks working for the City and driving cabs in the city and driving school buses in the city and ........
The Mayor's "thing" is fingerprinting all Uber drivers but he does not require that all drivers of all Houston services be fingerprinted. He is simply trying to get in front of the legislation that is in front of the State to make rules that fairly apply ride sharing rules throughout the State of Texas. When the Mayor of Houston said it would be OK to have any Uber driver from anywhere in the US drive during the Super Bowl he flushed all of his morality down the tubes. He wanted to get driver in place for his own purpose and rules and regulations were set aside. The Governor listened to his constituents who said "what the hey!" and is working to pass rules that would be applied to all cities in TX. The bill will get rid of the fingerprint requirements and will enact these rules Statewide.
The old saying "figures don't lie but liars can figure" seems to be an appropriate scenario here.


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## PrestonT (Feb 15, 2017)

WeirdBob said:


> You were found "Not Guilty", correct?


First time ever that prima facie evidence was his actual face.


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## anonymouswon (Feb 10, 2017)

I'm thinking violent offenses sexual or physical should NEVER be allowed. IMO if you got in trouble young, and have been a productive member of society, with no new incidents between 5 to 10 years it really shouldn't matter. 18-21 year Olds do dumb stuff doesn't mean they are bad people. The thing that gets me is they'll let you drive for 30 days until you get fingerprinted. Real criminals could do a lot of damage in 30 days. I'm all for background checks, but I think COH is digging way to deep that being said, ubers background check is too lax. If only they could meet somewhere in the middle.


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