Rules are there for a reason. Regulations are there for a reason. A demand for licences is there for a reason.
You can’t just only follow the regulations that you want to follow. For example, when ride hailing was approved by the B.C. government, it was under the understanding that you needed to be licensed in order to provide a proper level of safety.
And yet, as we’ve seen throughout 2021, Burnaby RCMP officers along with other government agencies, have handed out somewhere in the ballpark of $70,000 in fines to illegal ride-hailing drivers, as well as towing their vehicles.
The same thing happened on New Year’s Eve as the local police traffic team was out looking for impaired drivers, but ended up shutting down six illegal ride-hailing drivers.
Just go the extra step and get licensed.
This has been a hot topic this year, with one licensed Metro Vancouver ride-hailing service saying its black-market rivals are putting Burnaby’s international students “in harm’s way every day” – and the city and school district should do something about it.
Martin van den Hemel, the communications director for Richmond-based ride hailing company KABU, made the appeal at a meeting of the city’s public safety committee in November.
“We believe it’s only a matter of time before something dire happens involving one of these international students,” he said.
He described a “flourishing” illegal ride-hailing industry that specifically targets international students. He said unlicensed services transport as many as 2,000 students a day in Burnaby, Richmond and Vancouver.
Because their services aren’t licensed, van den Hemel said the drivers don’t have proper commercial vehicle insurance, their vehicles haven’t necessarily met vehicle safety standards and they “aren’t properly vetted, trained, monitored or disciplined.”
“Hundreds of Class 5 drivers who are not properly vetted or insured or provided with any meaningful safety training or other supports are providing transportation services to children, teenagers and young adults,” van den Hemel said.
He said the companies “prey” on the fears of “impressionable young people from China” and provide rides to minors, something that is not allowed for licensed ride-hailing services.
“Aside from bringing students to and from school every day, we’re aware of illegal practices that include underage students requesting black-market drivers to purchase cigarettes for them,” van den Hemel said. “What’s next? Buying liquor for students? How about ferrying drugs?”
Those are some scary ideas right there.
- With additional reporting by Cornelia Naylor
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
