When you comply with Uber's terms and conditions, you essentially sign your life away, consumer advocates say. So then, what happens once a driver hits you on the head with a hammer, as one rider claims?

The night began like several others for Jaime Lopez. however it ended so much differently.

Two weeks ago, the 35-year-old metropolis waiter finished a round of drinks with friends at the end of his shift and e-hailed an Uber car to take all of them to their individual homes. UberX driver Irving Korobov, 26, showed up.

As they began the trek home, the passengers started questioning Korobov's route, according to Lopez' lawyer, Harry Stern. Korobov took the expressway, when the passengers needed to take surface streets so they might be dropped off in consecutive order. As they continued on the drive, Stern said, the dispute between the passengers and Korobov reportedly got heated.

"The driver got more and more agitated," according to Stern. Korobov allegedly "started saying things like, 'I'm tired of folks that do not know where they are going. perhaps you guys should just get out.'"

Driving down the freeway, Korobov reportedly blew past the exit for Lopez' neighborhood and pulled off at an exit faraway from the passengers' homes, Stern said. At one point, they claim, he tried to force the passengers out of his car. He then reportedly drove fifty yards, then tried once more to oust them.

At Korobov's second try, Stern said, Lopez and another rider got out. The third rider momentarily stayed within the backseat to create positive they did not leave something behind.

"All of the unexpected [Korobov] appeared at the door with the hammer and aforementioned, 'I told you to urge the f*** out of my automotive,'" Stern aforementioned.

Korobov then marched over to Lopez, clobbered him within the head with a hammer, went back to his automotive and drove off, in keeping with Stern. Lopez was left lying on the bottom, harm and drifting in and out of consciousness. It's still unclear if Lopez can regain vision in his left eye, Stern said.

The Uber driver was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and battery with serious bodily injury. He has pleaded not guilty to each counts, in keeping with the Seattle District Attorney's office. He was freed on $125,000 bail. Korobov's lawyer declined to comment.

When Uber was asked to discuss this incident and to detail the protections it offers passengers, a spokesperson did not discuss this specific case. The San Francisco-based company says it puts a stress on safety.

"Safety is our prime priority and foundation to the Uber experience -- for each riders and drivers -- and that we take any potential breach of safety seriously," the spokesperson stated. "We can continuously work to enhance and increase safety measures, and with unexampled responsibility designed into the app, Uber continues to connect riders and drivers with the safest rides on the road."

What does one comply with once you use Uber?

What makes this quite simply an quarrel between driver and passengers? an Uber ride is totally different from hopping into a taxi. once you download Uber's app and find into a car summoned with the mobile reservation system, you comply with a host of terms and conditions by default. And Uber is young enough that things like this one are still for the most part unmapped territory.

Since Uber launched 5 years ago, it's grown quickly. It currently has cars driving around 210 cities in forty five countries, and therefore the company claims to cover 60 % of the America population with its providing. it is also the highest-valued venture-backed company within the world without delay, with a valuation of $18.2 billion.

Like its rivals Lyft and Sidecar, Uber is a supposed ride-sharing service that puts potential drivers through a background check in order that they'll become an impromptu taxi driver using their own vehicle and Uber's app platform. for every ride a driver carries out, Uber gets a cut of the fare -- generally between 20 % and 25 %.

The alleged incident between Korobov and Lopez wasn't the primary conflict between an Uber driver and a rider, and it's unlikely to be the last. however the result of this affray could facilitate clarify Uber's responsibility to passengers.

What specifically do passengers comply with once they use Uber? That depends on whom you raise.

"People do not know what they are entering into once they get into one in every of these cars, they do not understand what they are stepping into once they transfer the app," claimed professional person Chris Dolan of Dolan law firm, who is representing a 6-year-old lady affected and killed by an Uber driver earlier this year. "They're giving Uber a free pass -- up to death."

Dolan claims Uber's terms and conditions are the way for the corporate to absolve itself of any liability in cases of injury or accident and to avoid responsibility for a driver's actions. "It utterly covers their ass and says 'We're not answerable for something that happens to you, period,'" Dolan stated. "It says, 'You is raped, you'll be able to be killed, you can be dead, and it is not our responsibility.'"

When asked concerning the protections Uber offers passengers, an Uber representative pointed Limoscanner to its webpage on safety. The page details the background checks drivers bear -- that need county, state and federal checks that go back seven years -- and the $1 million insurance they have to carry.

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has publicized the service as being ultrasafe. "Safety isn't any. 1 at Uber...so we tend to check that the system is in place therefore riders get the safest ride potential," Kalanick told Fox News in August. "With that reported, Uber is within the limelight. once things happen, if there is claims of any kind in any town in any automotive, we tend to take those claims terribly seriously."

Dolan believes Uber's statements on safety contradict its terms and conditions. "It's an outright deception on individuals," Dolan stated. "They don't in any manner obtain to warrant that their product is safe. They place it right there in the writing."

The fine print of Uber's terms and conditions clearly says that passengers settle for a risk by using the service.

"You perceive, therefore, that by using the applying and therefore the service, you'll be exposed to transportation that's probably dangerous, offensive, harmful to minors, unsafe or otherwise objectionable," Uber's terms and conditions read, "and that you simply use the applying and therefore the service at your own risk."

A look at Lyft's terms of service shows it operates nearly an equivalent manner. "Lyft has no responsibility some for the actions or conduct of drivers or riders," the terms of service reads. "Responsibility for the choices you create relating to providing or accepting transportation rest entirely with You... Drivers and riders use the services at their own risk."

Legal analyst and ex-prosecutor Steve Clark claimed that Uber and Lyft are essentially attempting to indicate through these terms of use that they're ride-matching services, instead of transportation firms. (He isn't representing any passengers in lawsuits with Uber or Lyft, and he hasn't suggested either company). If they'll prove they're just app platforms, he said, they will be ready to defend themselves from some lawsuits. Yet, Clark said, "it remains to be seen if their terms of use would be enough to defend them from liability."

A parallel might be drawn with on-line dating services, that faced their own liability challenges too soon. In one high-profile incident in 2012, Odnoklassniki.ru was sued by a lady who claimed she was sexually maltreated by a date she met through the service. That suit ended when Odnoklassniki.ru began screening its members for sexual predators.

Are ride-sharing passengers out of luck?

Though the overwhelming majority of Uber and Lyft drivers are safe, courteous and competent, many incidents have occurred throughout the last year that have referred to as into question the protection of the services. the foremost severe incident was the death of 6-year-old Sophia Liu, who was affected and killed by an Uber driver on New Year's Day Eve in Seattle. There have conjointly been quite a dozen allegations of statutory offence and groping; kidnapping; and physical assault, consistent with many media stories.

Even though Uber covers itself with its terms and conditions, Clark declaired Uber might still be control liable for the hammer attack. "This seems to be a dispute concerning the route, and Uber can most likely be on the hook for that," Clark told.

When Lopez began driving for Uber, he had no listing, in keeping with the Seattle District Attorney's office. Even so, Uber still is also answerable for Lopez's alleged actions if it's tried the corporate did not adequately train him in a way to manage conflicts with passengers, Clark said.

"The question is not solely did he have a clean record, but how well was he trained," Clark insisted. "Just doing a background check and saying, 'You're on the way,' isn't enough. you would like some tips saying 'This is how you treat unruly passengers.'"

Uber declined to detail the coaching its drivers go through.

Uber drivers are classified as freelance contractors, instead of workers, that might defend Uber from liability, Clark said. however the company's terms and conditions might be trumped in court if it's shown that Uber exercises an explicit quantity of control over its drivers and that they are similar to workers. Such factors of control embrace the flexibility to hire and fire drivers, decide wherever their services are performed, or offer them with specialized equipment, together with different issues -- many of that, some would argue, Uber has.

"The drawback for Uber is that the a lot of control they say, the a lot of likely these individuals are getting to be characterised as workers," Clark told. "It's reasonably a two sides of a coin for Uber. If it does not do coaching, it might be control to blame for alternative reasons."


What regarding taxi safety?

No transportation service will guarantee that attacks will not happen. however if one thing terrible happens, a rider could receive financial compensation while not having to travel through a legal nightmare to urge it, looking on the sort of insurance a given service has.

Victims of assault will sue individual drivers, however they are doubtless to urge a lot of adequate compensation if they are going through the corporate that organized the ride within the initial place, stated Dave Sutton, representative for Who's Driving You, an advocacy association for taxi, limousine and paratransit services.

While there are risks in using Uber and Lyft's service, are cabs any better?

Taxi drivers have maltreated passengers. The distinction, Sutton told, is that cab firms are sometimes responsible in such instances.

Regulations for taxi firms vary from town to town, however all cab companies should have insurance of a minimum of $250,000. The key, however, is that the majority taxi companies even have a backup umbrella policy to hide rare occurrences, sort of a rider slippery on ice or being attacked by a driver, Sutton said.

San Francisco's Municipal Transportation Agency says on its web site that the insurance that town cab firms carry means that "when you rent a metropolis taxi, you have got correct legal recourse ought to the necessity arise."

While Uber needs its drivers to possess $1 million of insurance coverage, that is above several cab companies, it's unclear if this might cover incidents sort of a driver assaultive a rider. This kind of coverage is often meant for vehicle accidents.

Uber declined to mention whether or not Korobov's insurance would get the prices of the alleged incident with Lopez.

Uber's insurance adjustor has contacted Stern concerning the injuries that Lopez suffered, Stern said. he is waiting to ascertain whether or not Uber can "come to the table and settle for responsibility." If it does not, Stern said, he is ready to sue.

"I'm not one that desires to stifle technology, by any means that," Stern mentioned. "But [Uber] simply needs to reap all the profits and not be accountable once things go dangerous."