Drivers of vehicles-for-hire will now be arrested if they don’t follow municipal and local regulations, according to Oxford Alderman Jay Hughes.
Though citations were issued as early as September, Oxford will now perform a custodial arrest of those who violate the regulations. Custodial arrests are made with the defendant immediately taken into custody.
San Francisco-based company Uber has continued to operate outside of city and state legislation, Hughes said.
All vehicles for hire in Oxford are required to install video surveillance, adhere to maximum fares for within the city limits and provide proof of insurance, among other requirements specified in the vehicle for hire ordinance passed during the summer.
“Uber’s lobbyist came before the Board of Aldermen to request that the board consider granting an exception to Uber, so that it could hire drivers of any age and operate with no regard to state and city laws,” Hughes said. “The board asked the Uber lobbyist for information, which was not presented to us.”
The day after the Nov. 7 meeting, Hughes said Uber ran advertisements in The Daily Mississippian soliciting drivers without regard to age, insurance or requirements of Mississippi and local policies. Uber continues to operate in Oxford.
Uber launched its UberCollege program Aug. 28 and began operation in 22 college towns across the nation. Three days before the first Uber driver picked up his or her passenger in Oxford, Uber hired Austin Barbour to work on state and municipal lobbying efforts.
“We respect laws that are on the books; we respect the city council and the mayor,” Barbour said. “We respect their decisions on how they want to view Uber and how they want to work with Uber. We will follow their lead on that.”
Hughes said drivers didn’t seem to care about these early attempts to warn off illegal operation.
“There were stops made of drivers who were not complying as vehicles for hire, and in the stops, the city police learned that Uber had instructed them to disregard any fines they got, and that Uber would pay the fines,” Hughes said.
Hughes said drivers will now face arrest if they continue to function outside of state and local law.
“When a corporation makes a decision to tell its partners to violate state and local laws because they will pay all off the fines and hire the attorney, the monetary incentives of our laws are not sufficient, and it will be a custodial arrest,” Hughes said. “This is not a decision that the board made lightly.”
Billy Guernier, general manager for regional expansion of Uber, said that the ride-sharing service has no intention of ceasing to operate.
“It’s truly unfortunate that while more and more cities are finding permanent solutions for ride-sharing, Oxford officials remain obstinate and unwilling to see our technology as anything but a traditional taxicab,” Guernier said. “Much like we do in every other city that we operate in, we stand ready and willing to negotiate with local officials to find a sensible solution and permanent home for ride-sharing in Oxford. Uber will continue operating in Oxford.”
Uber considers itself different from a traditional taxi company, Guernier said.
“Uber is a technology company. We don’t hire drivers or own any vehicles,” Guernier said. “Regulating ride-sharing – an innovative, new option – like a taxi company doesn’t make sense.”
Hughes said it doesn’t matter how Uber defines itself.
“The simple fact is drivers who operate vehicles on public streets of Oxford in exchange for money are vehicles under state law and city law,” Hughes said. “The fact that they may have a phone that uses an app to locate a driver doesn’t exempt it from the fact that it is still a vehicle for hire. If you’re operating a vehicle to take someone from point A to point B, then it falls under the state and city requirements. We don’t care what Uber considers itself. We only care about the drivers on the road.”
