Irate French taxi drivers smash cars in strike against Uber

[webfact]

Irate French taxi drivers smash cars in strike against Uber
ELAINE GANLEY, Associated Press
LORI HINNANT, Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — French taxi drivers pulled out the throttle in an all-out confrontation with the ultra-cheap Uber car service Thursday, smashing livery cars, setting tires ablaze and blocking traffic during a nationwide strike that caught tourists and celebrities alike in the mayhem.

Travelers going to and from the airport were forced to walk alongside highways with their bags, while others, including singer Courtney Love, had their cars set upon by striking taxi drivers.

"They've ambushed our car and are holding our driver hostage," Love tweeted. "They're beating the cars with metal bats. this is France?? I'm safer in Baghdad,"

The French government was aghast, with Prime Minister Manuel Valls lamenting: "These incidents give a deplorable image to visitors of our country."

Taxi drivers justified their rage, saying Uber's lowest-cost service UberPop was ruining their livihoods.

Despite repeated rulings against it and an October law that explicitly outlaws UberPop, its drivers continue to ply French roads and the American ride-hailing company is actively recruiting drivers and passengers alike. Uber claims to have a total of 400,000 customers a month in France.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve rushed back from a trip to Marseille to meet with taxi unions, declaring afterward that UberPop must be shut down and its vehicles seized if caught by police carrying passengers. He said 70 vehicles had been damaged around France in Thursday's protests and 10 people were arrested.

Cazeneuve said he would meet with UberPop officials to tell them their service is illegal. "It must, therefore, be closed," he said. "The government will never accept the law of the jungle."

He ordered a meeting of French anti-fraud officials Monday to put in place measures to immediately stop illegal taxis from servicing customers. Only a decision by the Justice Ministry can ban the App for UberPop, he said.

Earlier, Cazeneuve ordered an immediate ban on unlicensed drivers in the Paris region.

That didn't phase Uber France chief Thibaud Simphal, who said on RTL radio he was telling his drivers "to continue." He contended that thus far the justice system "has not demanded that UberPop be forbidden."

Anger seethed across France, with riot police chasing strikers from Paris' ring road, where protesters torched tires and swarmed onto exit ramps during rush hour on the busy artery that leads to Charles de Gaulle airport. In Toulouse in the southwest, angry taxi drivers dumped flour onto UberPop cars, tires were burned in Nantes in the west, and in Lyon, in the southeast, roads were blocked.

Love, Kurt Cobain's widow, said she was ambushed while traveling from the airport, then saved by two men on a motorcycle. It wasn't immediately clear what type of car she was riding in.

"paid some guys on motorcycles to sneak us out, got chased by a mob of taxi drivers who threw rocks, passed two police and they did nothing," she tweeted.

She later posted a selfie of herself wearing a motorcycle helmet with her two smiling rescuers.

Uber's more expensive livery service is still legal but a source of intense frustration for French taxi drivers, who pay tens of thousands of euros (dollars) for the equivalent of medallions and who face customer complaints that they are being resistant to changes such as credit cards and geolocation.

Taxi drivers in other European countries also complain that car services like Uber unfairly undercut them.

A judge ordered a temporary suspension in Spain, and in the Netherlands a Dutch court has ruled that UberPop must stop service. A world away, in China, the government banned drivers of private cars from offering services through an app.

In France, in recent weeks, nearly 100 Uber drivers have been attacked, sometimes while carrying customers, a scenario repeated on Thursday. One passenger was left with a swollen face and black eye after he took an UberPop ride over the weekend, then posted his mangled face on Facebook, an image that quickly made the rounds on French media.

"There are people who are willing to do anything to stop any competition," said Thomas Meister, a spokesman for Uber. "We are only the symptom of a badly organized market."

The French government, meanwhile, said nearly 500 legal cases had been filed across the country involving complaints over UberPop. Officials raise concerns about passenger safety, insisting they are not protected in case of an accident by an UberPop driver.

Violence peaked in the Paris region, where images from around the city captured the rage, with an Uber-style car overturned, others with tires slashed and windshields cracked.

Fast-moving technological innovations such as smartphone apps have given the French government headaches when it comes to adapting national laws. With the French unemployment rate in the double-digits, many of the jobless are looking for opportunities to work.

Even Interior Ministry officials acknowledge the emergence of Uber and similar services — which can feature perks such as free bottled water, polite drivers and the chance to pay by credit card — have created a competitive market that is forcing changes in the taxi industry.

However, Cazeneuve pushed back. "Modernity is not illegal work," he said, denouncing Uber and its leaders "who with arrogance apply not one of the rules of law."

Addressing a leading complaint of taxi drivers — that authorities are not doing enough to apply the new law — ministry officials emphasized that it will take time to fully implement.

Serge Metz CEO of the G7 taxi service acknowledged room for improvement, especially in quality of service that taxis offer, but said unfair competition was making drivers' lives impossible.

"This is the first time we've had a multinational so cynical that, in every country where it operates, flouts the laws in place and lobbies with an army of lawyers and lobbyists to change the laws," Serge Metz, CEO of the G7 taxi service, said.
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Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten and Thomas Adamson in Paris contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-06-26

[Tywais]

Post removed due to the following forum rule.

English is the only acceptable language anywhere on ThaiVisa including Classifieds, except within the Thai language forum, where of course using Thai is allowed.

[Anthony5]

Looks like they took a lesson from Thai taxi drivers.

[robertthebruce]

The French hate change, that's for sure., or new technology....

Took them years to accept and use WI FI......

So this would make the, go wild for sure.....

[kotsak]

They have been using Minitel till 3 years ago

[empireboy]

Such violence indicates a lack of intelligence capable of conceiving a real and ethical solution!

[geriatrickid]

Such violence indicates a lack of intelligence capable of conceiving a real and ethical solution!

Is that based on the typical Paris cab driver demographics?

[Tywais]

Post commenting on moderation removed. Keep it up and you will find there are consequences.

[BuaBS]

People are fed up with far overprized taxi rates. Uber is a great initiative .

Governments don't like Uber because of the possibility for "unofficial" payment , so they miss out on taxes , social security payments ,....

The transport mafia is everywhere , and this is Thailand too .

If I have to pay a motosai taxi 50 B for a 5 min trip for a few km while people are working in the heat all day for 200-300 B , you know you've been ripped off.

Taxi's in Europa are extremely expensive and an even bigger rip off than here.

The people who are smashing Uber cars , should be shot on site.

[BKKBrit]

In Nice two years ago, I was charged EUR20 with a mandatory tip for a ride of less than 2kms moving from one hotel to another. Ride was less than 10 minutes - and the taxi was an Audi 8 estate..brand spanking new. The ride from Monaco back into Nice was EUR125...around 20 minutes. Outrageous fares.

[kotsak]

No worries, the cake is around the corner

Edited June 26, 2015 by kotsak

[Jimbolai]

Bye Bye Europe. No Paris for some time to come.

[Chicog]

At least they didn't burn any sheep.

[paddyjoe41]

Uber are legal,the problem is the mafia run lot do not like to miss out on the usual coffey,by the truck full,daylight robbers are the regular taxis,good luck to Uber for highlighting the world wide problem,and providing work to those who are happy just to earn an honest days pay,with a nice motor and comfort for all at the correct price.

[Credo]

I don't know if this is a factor, but I have noticed over the years that a lot of taxi drivers get a little testy during Ramadan, when they can't smoke, eat or drink anything all day.

[Baerboxer]

Just normal industrial relations in France.

Taxi drivers, air traffic controllers, lorry drivers, farmers, teachers - anyone who fancies a bit of a riot and protest just organizes one.

Become more efficient, effective, customer focused or competitive - not likely.

[Scott]

Another post containing a foreign language has been removed. English only, please.

[Aforek]

The French hate change, that's for sure., or new technology....

Took them years to accept and use WI FI......

So this would make the, go wild for sure.....

As a French man, I must admit that you are right in generally speaking ... but the ones who are modern go to USA ( Silicon valley ) where they are very much appreciated for there quality of work

for the taxis above, of course they are nuts, I have no sympaty for them : but I read in the articles above that there are also problems with Uber in the others European countries . Let's get rid of the expensive taxis but let's have an European Uber, not the American version

[JakeSully]

The french cabbies are rioting because a monopoly is not allowed?

[Basil B]

At least they didn't burn any sheep.

That was the port blockade...

Anyway the do not do that now, they just run a burning blockade across the road so the lorries have to stop and all the Illegal Immigrants can jump on the back.

[nemrut]

This type of violence is something you would expect in the US but not France and it will be very interesting to see if US taxi drivers start doing the same.

Uber supposedly is very popular in NYC which has a medallion system as well. Wonder how they dealt with the mafia fun taxi system there?

[Aforek]

Taxi licence ( permit to drive a taxi is between 240000 and 400000 € ) , VTC like Uber don't have to pay anything , they are much more modern and cheaper than taxis : two worlds which don't play in the same ground

here the picture of a Uber client beaten up by taxis drivers in Lyon ( broken nose and jaw, eye in bad state )

I am sorry to read that the government wants to forbid VTC; as said above, France is slow because il's an old country : they always wait to see what the other do, they never take the initiatives

[Tredz]

taxi mafia !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

violence solve nothing !!

Edited June 26, 2015 by Tredz

[Wat dee]

Free cabs from income/business tax, VAT and high insurances, problem solved.

Edited June 26, 2015 by Wat dee

[cookee68]

you can see where all those immigrants in France get it from

[lvr181]

"liberty, equality, fraternity", (or in original French, Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité). What happened to their (French) national motto? Gone down the tubes I guess!

My apologies Scott for earlier post.

[boomerangutang]

This is an interesting social phenomena - brought about by the internet combined with overpopulation/lack of jobs. I knew, the moment I heard of Uber (and Uber-like services) that there would be serious backlashes. It's human nature for established people (with jobs at stake) to resent others who can provide the same service for less money. I like the idea of Uber. There will be isolated problems (abusive drivers, for example), but probably no more (and possibly a lot less) than established taxi drivers - who have been known to rip-off passengers, along with the occasional theft or rape. People are people.

There are other online services which will piss established people off, mostly regarding money-issues. There are already services which offer accommodation for much less than hotels. Also; non-registered masseuses (and hundreds of other non-certified service providers) which offer cheaper services than those working at established places.

It will be interesting when online services make further inroads to health care and military/security applications.

[BuaBS]

This is an interesting social phenomena - brought about by the internet combined with overpopulation/lack of jobs. I knew, the moment I heard of Uber (and Uber-like services) that there would be serious backlashes. It's human nature for established people (with jobs at stake) to resent others who can provide the same service for less money. I like the idea of Uber. There will be isolated problems (abusive drivers, for example), but probably no more (and possibly a lot less) than established taxi drivers - who have been known to rip-off passengers, along with the occasional theft or rape. People are people.

There are other online services which will piss established people off, mostly regarding money-issues. There are already services which offer accommodation for much less than hotels. Also; non-registered masseuses (and hundreds of other non-certified service providers) which offer cheaper services than those working at established places.

It will be interesting when online services make further inroads to health care and military/security applications.

This is nothing new , only it used to be the UNIONS. What ?,...people can't remember all the union demonstration/riots of the last half century ?

[empireboy]

Such violence indicates a lack of intelligence capable of conceiving a real and ethical solution!

Is that based on the typical Paris cab driver demographics?

It's merely an opinion about people who use violence as their chosen solution

[Jdiddy]

Looks like Ramadan also bans sex/masturbation?