# Uber drivers are losing their jobs over fake DUI complaints



## KevinH (Jul 13, 2014)

https://www.cnet.com/news/uber-drivers-are-losing-their-jobs-over-fake-dui-complaints/
Uber and Lyft have rules to keep riders safe from drunk and reckless driving. Customers may be abusing them to get free rides.

Dara Kerr
http://www.twitter.com/darakerr
March 16, 2020 5:00 AM PDT









Some Uber drivers say passengers are making false accusations to score free rides. 
halbergman/Getty Images

It was a day like any other for Shannon Powell. In early February, he was driving for Uber in Baltimore like he had been for the last three and a half years. As he worked through the afternoon, picking up and dropping off passengers, he sipped on a Coca Cola and made small talk.
Then, at around 5pm, Uber pinged him and everything changed. He had a stellar 4.88 rating and more than 14,000 trips under his belt, but he hadn't quite realized that driving full-time for the ride-hailing company meant his entire livelihood could be destroyed by a few comments from riders.
In the message, Uber said a passenger claimed Powell "may have been driving under the influence while using the app," according to screenshots seen by CNET. The company then deactivated his account.

"This was my main source of income," said Powell, who has since been evicted from his home because he couldn't pay the bills. "I really have no other options."








Now playing: Uber drivers fear fake DUI complaints
9:52

The incident represents an unintended consequence of a feature ride-hailing companies put in place to ensure the safety of their passengers. Both Uber and Lyft boast "zero tolerance" policies for drivers who use drugs or alcohol while on the apps. The companies encourage riders who "suspect that a driver is under the influence" to first contact 911 and then the ride-hailing services' support teams. In certain situations, when Uber receives a passenger complaint and concludes the ride was unprofessional, it'll refund the trip.
Some drivers say, however, passengers are abusing the feature, using false complaints about everything from drug use to a driver's attitude to get free rides. That, in turn, can have devastating consequences. 
"While passengers may save a few dollars, drivers face temporary or permanent deactivation," said Bryant Greening, an attorney who represents riders and drivers in accident and injury claims for Chicago-based firm LegalRideshare. He noted that he gets calls from Uber and Lyft drivers about false accusations daily. "They lose the ability to work, earn money and provide for their families, all because a passenger scammed the system."
An Uber spokeswoman said the company has a specialized team dedicated to investigating all safety complaints. Team representatives speak to both riders and drivers and then take the action they deem appropriate, she said, including deactivations.








Before being deactivated, Shannon Powell had a stellar record as an Uber driver.

Shannon Powell
"Each case is individually handled," the spokeswoman said. "We have these policies and our support team does its due diligence in looking into these cases with safety top of mind."

The strict stance is in accordance with many states' zero tolerance laws -- something Uber got into trouble for in 2018. California fined the company $750,000 that year for reportedly not investigating all of its rider complaints about drunk drivers.
Lyft has a similar protocol to Uber, but says it additionally analyzes riders' previous interactions with the company to ensure there are no trends of misleading or false reports.

"Lyft's community guidelines prohibit fraudulent activity of any kind," a Lyft spokesman said. "Such behavior can and does lead to a permanent ban from the platform."

With Uber, drivers say the company often sides with the rider. CNET spoke to five drivers who said their accounts were deactivated for things they say they didn't do. Three were accused of DUIs, one was said to have smoked marijuana while driving and another was blamed for getting in a car accident that never actually happened. Twitter, Reddit and Facebook groups are filled with hundreds of comments from angry drivers who say they've experienced similar scenarios.

In some of these instances, Uber only temporarily shutters the driver's account while it investigates the claim. But in other situations, like Powell's, the deactivation is permanent.

Powell swears he was sober. After he got the message from Uber that afternoon and talked to a company representative, he immediately went to an urgent care center and paid out-of-pocket to get a toxicology test. A technician at the center tested Powell's saliva and performed a BAT, basic abilities test, for alcohol. The report, which Powell shared with CNET, came back negative.

"I showed proof that I wasn't intoxicated or had anything in my system," Powell said. "This report should have counted."

*Unconfirmed reports*
James Morran had a similar experience one night in mid-December. He'd been a full-time Uber driver in Los Angeles for more than three years, boasted a 4.92 rating and had given nearly 7,000 rides. Typically, Morran doesn't drive at night, but he was trying to earn extra money for the holidays.
As he drove through the evening, nothing of note happened, he says. None of his passengers mentioned anything unusual to him.
The next morning, Morran woke to a message from Uber that read, "We received a report from one of your riders stating you appeared to be under the influence during a trip," according to screenshots seen by CNET.

The thing that gets me is that I'm being deactivated because of an unconfirmed report.

James Morran, former Uber driver
Morran was perplexed. He said he definitely wasn't drinking alcohol. The only thing he could think of was that maybe a rider confused the smell of the medicine he takes for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which requires an inhaler and extra strong cough drops, for alcohol. But he had no way to prove this.

"If they would've called me right when the event happened, I would've gone to take a blood test," Morran said. "The thing that gets me is that I'm being deactivated because of an unconfirmed report."

Drivers say it's often unclear why they get deactivated when the rider's complaint is either unconfirmed or the driver can prove sobriety with a toxicology report.

Morran exchanged messages with Uber several times that day. At one point, Uber said, "We know that there are riders who exhibit inappropriate behavior and make false feedback," according to screenshots seen by CNET. However, the company still decided to permanently deactivate his account since he had "additional unconfirmed reports describing driving under the influence."

Powell received a nearly identical message from Uber after going back-and-forth with the company. Both drivers acknowledge getting other complaints, but say those situations also involved false accusations that were cleared up afterwards.


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## 1.5xorbust (Nov 22, 2017)

There are plenty of drivers. Drivers who are victims of false accusations and become deactivated are just collateral damage to Uber.


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## Nitedriver (Jun 19, 2014)

1.5xorbust said:


> There are plenty of drivers. Drivers who are victims of false accusations and become deactivated are just collateral damage to Uber.


keep this topic active !!

time to post some lawyer referrals for the drivers to defend them self , there are many false accusation cases and Uber always takes the side of the rider (free ride plus $25 credit) I know one of those and working on a case.

https://uberpeople.net/threads/aler...-over-my-foot-ran-red-light-etc.387512/page-3


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

KevinH said:


> https://www.cnet.com/news/uber-drivers-are-losing-their-jobs-over-fake-dui-complaints/
> Uber and Lyft have rules to keep riders safe from drunk and reckless driving. Customers may be abusing them to get free rides.
> 
> Dara Kerr
> ...


You have the CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT
TO FACE YOUR ACCUSER !

UBER DOES NOT BELIEVE IN DRIVERS RIGHTS OR THE CONSTITUTION !

A UNION WILL !


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## Nitedriver (Jun 19, 2014)

That will be an interesting case , waiting for the subpoena kickin in

I guess small claim court ??


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## UberLAguy (Aug 2, 2015)

This is so sad. 

I have a dashcam. But I am thinking of using my old phone with a large XD card to record myself as well. Just start and stop each trip. With time stamp of course.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

False accusers NEED TO FACE CRIMINAL CHARGES !

To create a Deterrant .

They can not continue Ruining Lives & Jobs with No Consequence !

For their own selfish paltry personal gain !


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## Condor (May 12, 2020)

Those at the bottom of the Social & Economic ladder
tend to be Easily victimized the Most
While having the Least available Recourse.

It's based in mainstream societal mindset:
_"If you're Not rich in the USA &#127482;&#127480;
you're either Stupid and/or Lazy"_

Case in point: Uber will allow a passenger To destroy a Poor drivers
life for a free $5 ride.
As far as Uber corporate is concerned:
drivers aren't worth
the Price of a cup of Coffee ☕


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## Nitedriver (Jun 19, 2014)

https://legalrideshare.com/contact.html


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## Demon (Dec 6, 2014)

Nitedriver said:


> https://legalrideshare.com/contact.html


Doesn't say anything about DWI in their services.


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## whatyoutalkinboutwillis (Jul 29, 2017)

KevinH said:


> https://www.cnet.com/news/uber-drivers-are-losing-their-jobs-over-fake-dui-complaints/
> Uber and Lyft have rules to keep riders safe from drunk and reckless driving. Customers may be abusing them to get free rides.
> 
> Some Uber drivers say passengers are making false accusations to score free rides.
> ...


They should be advised to call 9-11 if they think the driver is impaired. If they call Uber about a DUI and they don't have a police report, then Uber should tell them they are SOL. I bet the majority of them took the trip all the way home and then complained. Use the panic button if you're afraid for your safety and end the ride. And how the hell can they determine who is or isn't on something? Not even the cops can do that without a test.


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## Demon (Dec 6, 2014)

whatyoutalkinboutwillis said:


> They should be advised to call 9-11 if they think the driver is impaired. If they call Uber about a DUI and they don't have a police report, then Uber should tell them they are SOL. I bet the majority of them took the trip all the way home and then complained. Use the panic button if you're afraid for your safety and end the ride. And how the hell can they determine who is or isn't on something? Not even the cops can do that without a test.


Calling 911 on someone who is driving the car the pax is in would not be a good idea at all.


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## islanddriver (Apr 6, 2018)

Demon said:


> Calling 911 on someone who is driving the car the pax is in would not be a good idea at all.


if you use 911 in the app driver wouldn't know you called . 911 will come stop car pax can get out call another uber.


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## kingcorey321 (May 20, 2018)

The driver was not able to apply for lyft dd gh ic pizza delivery truck driver fast food beg on the streets .
Really ? sure


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## Lil'Lyftie (Feb 23, 2020)

KevinH said:


> He had a stellar 4.88 rating


Oooooo-kay...

Looking at Shannon's driver account screenshot, if you manage to go "Above and Beyond" only 50 times in your 14,215 trips, maybe you aren't the ace customer-facing service provider you think you are. Even that compliment he was proud to share is sort of a double-edged sword: I don't know if many other passengers enjoy their driver to be "talkative".

As for Ms Kerr going all space-y on rating his rating: maybe she doesn't quite know the moon for our stars.



whatyoutalkinboutwillis said:


> And how the hell can they determine who is or isn't on something? Not even the cops can do that without a test.


I can tell you're onto something.


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## Nitedriver (Jun 19, 2014)

Lil'Lyftie said:


> Oooooo-kay...
> 
> Looking at Shannon's driver account screenshot, if you manage to go "Above and Beyond" only 50 times in your 14,215 trips, maybe you aren't the ace customer-facing service provider you think you are. Even that compliment he was proud to share is sort of a double-edged sword: I don't know if many other passengers enjoy their driver to be "talkative".
> 
> ...


s not the point, stay on topic, the guy was just one they choose..
fact is : riders do it all the time : free ride plus $25 credit..
look I drive in the ghettos of Philly (which soon becomes a second Baltimore with all s h i t goin on !!)

best choice : avoid low income neighborhoods , but then again those are the most busy ones..
this town is so ****ed up, now the mayor (Kenney) wants to raise taxes , while everybody is more broke then before ..wft


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## Mkang14 (Jun 29, 2019)

Now you can say what pax smelled was sanitizer
😃👍


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## Demon (Dec 6, 2014)

islanddriver said:


> if you use 911 in the app driver wouldn't know you called . 911 will come stop car pax can get out call another uber.


If the cop found the car before the pax got out being pulled over would be a dead giveaway.



Nitedriver said:


> s not the point, stay on topic, the guy was just one they choose..
> fact is : riders do it all the time : free ride plus $25 credit..
> look I drive in the ghettos of Philly (which soon becomes a second Baltimore with all s h i t goin on !!)
> 
> ...


If riders "do it all the time" avoiding low income neighborhoods wouldn't stop it from happening.


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## The Gift of Fish (Mar 17, 2017)

KevinH said:


> https://www.cnet.com/news/uber-drivers-are-losing-their-jobs-over-fake-dui-complaints/
> Uber and Lyft have rules to keep riders safe from drunk and reckless driving. Customers may be abusing them to get free rides.
> 
> Dara Kerr
> ...


The mistake that these drivers make is to believe that Uberlyft is a job replacement. Uberlyft tries to sell itself as a "job creator". However, it is not and rideshare is not a job. It is nothing more than an informal way to pick up a few bucks and should only be seen as such. Any driver can be done at any time, for any reason. Or no reason. Trying to have rideshare stand in for a serious job is extremely risky.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Mkang14 said:


> Now you can say what pax smelled was sanitizer
> &#128515;&#128077;


A lot of recent sanitizer is 90% alcohol.
Comes in whiskey bottles.
Is made by Distilleries.


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## M62 (Sep 6, 2019)

The Gift of Fish said:


> The mistake that these drivers make is to believe that Uberlyft is a job replacement. Uberlyft tries to sell itself as a "job creator". However, it is not and rideshare is not a job. It is nothing more than an informal way to pick up a few bucks and should only be seen as such. Any driver can be done at any time, for any reason. Or no reason. Trying to have rideshare stand in for a serious job is extremely risky.


I agree with your point. But I don't think they've marketed the job that way for a few years. I think today they are marketing it mainly as a side gig.


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## Nitedriver (Jun 19, 2014)

THE FACT IS :

Uber is gonna try to buy all the other food delivery services because they may not be in the ridesharing business much longer


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## Trafficat (Dec 19, 2016)

The fear of false deactivation is a strong motivating factor for me to do nothing more than the bare minimum number of trips to keep Gold with Uber. I love the ASU scholarship Uber gives but I don't want to lose it because some paxhole wants a free ride.

You never know when your next trip could be your last trip.


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## SpinalCabbage (Feb 5, 2020)

End the policy of refunding fares and you'll see a lot less false complaints, obviously. If the passenger gets from point A to point B then services were provided as contracted.

Uber/Lyft need to start treating this as theft of services by the passenger and the drivers need to start treating this as theft of services by Uber/Lyft.

JMO


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## islanddriver (Apr 6, 2018)

SpinalCabbage said:


> End the policy of refunding fares and you'll see a lot less false complaints, obviously. If the passenger gets from point A to point B then services were provided as contracted.
> 
> Uber/Lyft need to start treating this as theft of services by the passenger and the drivers need to start treating this as theft of services by Uber/Lyft.
> 
> JMO


I don't know why Uber and Lyft are so worried about the pax. They won't go anywhere else their to cheep .


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## whatyoutalkinboutwillis (Jul 29, 2017)

Demon said:


> Calling 911 on someone who is driving the car the pax is in would not be a good idea at all.


 Calling Uber after the fact and without a drug test shouldn't be allowed. We all have panic buttons to press within the app. Why not do that? If you're so scared for your life why not do something about it then? Why wait until after you've been driven home and realize the trip cost more than you anticipated? If someone were to accuse me of being under the influence, when I don't even take OTC drugs, I won't go down easy.


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## Uberchampion (Oct 17, 2015)

whatyoutalkinboutwillis said:


> Calling Uber after the fact and without a drug test shouldn't be allowed. We all have panic buttons to press within the app. Why not do that? If you're so scared for your life why not do something about it then? Why wait until after you've been driven home and realize the trip cost more than you anticipated? If someone were to accuse me of being under the influence, when I don't even take OTC drugs, I won't go down easy.


It's a lot easier for Uber to dump the driver then to put up with any potential negative press. We are just data points in an algorithm. We have no tangible value to the Rideshare companies. I bet you in their Balance Books we are listed as liabilities

I screen print all of my rides. If I get deactivated for a false claim, the last 10 people I drove around are going to end up with black eyes.


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## IthurstwhenIP (Jan 12, 2018)

Simple...if you are going to drink
DONT DRIVE 

I highly doubt most pax just make stuff up. You all are the same types who dismiss a women’s rape claim off hand

four years and every complaint I got was well earned


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## islanddriver (Apr 6, 2018)

You are 100% wrong . I was deactivated once pax saying that I was impaired. this is how it went down my first Pax for the day 7 a.m. in the morning. Pax ..6 minutes away headed to pick up location. get a text traffic slow down.get a text from the Pax can i drive faster because i'm going to make her late for school . With that I canceled the ride. After that within a half hour I get a message from Uber saying I'm deactivated pending a complaint from Pax that I was under the influence. I text uber said how could Pax claim that when i didn't even pick her up. Within two hours I was reactivated . So yes some Pax do it for Revenge. Some do it for money.


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## Nitedriver (Jun 19, 2014)

Uberchampion said:


> It's a lot easier for Uber to dump the driver then to put up with any potential negative press. We are just data points in an algorithm. We have no tangible value to the Rideshare companies. I bet you in their Balance Books we are listed as liabilities
> 
> I screen print all of my rides. If I get deactivated for a false claim, the last 10 people I drove around are going to end up with black eyes.


and disposable , but negative press and lot's of published press is bad for the company


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## Lil'Lyftie (Feb 23, 2020)

islanddriver said:


> You are 100% wrong . I was deactivated once pax saying that I was impaired. this is how it went down my first Pax for the day 7 a.m. in the morning. Pax ..6 minutes away headed to pick up location. get a text traffic slow down.get a text from the Pax can i drive faster because i'm going to make her late for school . With that I canceled the ride. After that within a half hour I get a message from Uber saying I'm deactivated pending a complaint from Pax that I was under the influence. I text uber said how could Pax claim that when i didn't even pick her up. Within two hours I was reactivated . So yes some Pax do it for Revenge. Some do it for money.


Haven't used the Uber app in five years. Passengers can rate you (or report on you) on a canceled trip? That doesn't make sense. I actually doubt it.
Lyft doesn't even display a ride canceled pre-pickup, so there's nothing for pax to click on.


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## islanddriver (Apr 6, 2018)

Lil'Lyftie said:


> Haven't used the Uber app in five years. Passengers can rate you (or report on you) on a canceled trip? That doesn't make sense. I actually doubt it.
> Lyft doesn't even display a ride canceled pre-pickup, so there's nothing for pax to click on.


she was the only trip i hadthat day before they deactivated me. told them what I thought happened.was back online in 2 hours.you tell me who else it could have been.


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## Demon (Dec 6, 2014)

islanddriver said:


> she was the only trip i hadthat day before they deactivated me. told them what I thought happened.was back online in 2 hours.you tell me who else it could have been.


It could have been from anyone you had driven that week.


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## islanddriver (Apr 6, 2018)

Demon said:


> It could have been from anyone you had driven that week.


from my understanding if its a impaired claim they do it pretty much at once they don't wait days. also a Pax doesnt have to claim a problem on in the app. a Pax can also call in a problem.


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## Demon (Dec 6, 2014)

islanddriver said:


> from my understanding if its a impaired claim they do it pretty much at once they don't wait days. also a Pax doesnt have to claim a problem on in the app. a Pax can also call in a problem.


Your understanding based on what? How do you know for certain who made the claim and when?


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## Lil'Lyftie (Feb 23, 2020)

Demon said:


> Your understanding based on what? How do you know for certain who made the claim and when?


Islanddriver BELIEVES, and it's faith that nurtures is through difficult times. Leave the man be, certainty is what he desires so he may rejoice in working for below-minimum wage: Halleluja!


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## islanddriver (Apr 6, 2018)

Demon said:


> Your understanding based on what? How do you know for certain who made the claim and when?


my understanding is based on news articles and things I've read on here over the last few years. plus just on Common Sense Uber is not going to wait days or weeks to deactivate you for an impairment charge by a passenger. Common Sense will tell you reason being that if somebody report you as being impaired while driving and Uber doesn't do anything about it right away, if you get in an accident and kill somebody and you are impaired Uber is fully liable for it for not deactivating you. So based on that is the reason why I believe it was the teen that reported me as impaired.


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## 197438 (Mar 7, 2020)

Unless the pax calls police because of suspected of DUI, nobody should be deactivated for driving drunk. The more stories I see on cnet, the less believable the stories on cnet.


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## Uberdriver2710 (Jul 15, 2015)

Quit Boober, problem solved.-o: duh


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## Demon (Dec 6, 2014)

islanddriver said:


> my understanding is based on news articles and things I've read on here over the last few years. plus just on Common Sense Uber is not going to wait days or weeks to deactivate you for an impairment charge by a passenger. Common Sense will tell you reason being that if somebody report you as being impaired while driving and Uber doesn't do anything about it right away, if you get in an accident and kill somebody and you are impaired Uber is fully liable for it for not deactivating you. So based on that is the reason why I believe it was the teen that reported me as impaired.


Your understanding is lacking. Uber is not going to wait to place a driver on a time out, but a customer might. If a customer waits a week to tell Uber, Uber will hold an account right away but that's still a week after the actual ride. You have no way of knowing who made the complaint.



EastBayRides said:


> Unless the pax calls police because of suspected of DUI, nobody should be deactivated for driving drunk. The more stories I see on cnet, the less believable the stories on cnet.


Calling the police isn't going to do anything.


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## Uberchampion (Oct 17, 2015)

Real uber drivers are getting DUI's

https://uberpeople.net/threads/what-happens-if-you-get-a-dwi.398685/


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