LETTERS: Uber, Lyft drivers should face same requirements as taxi drivers

Uber licensing

I work for a major cab company in Las Vegas. Although I am retired military, I still enjoy meeting people from all over the world and talking with them. Driving a cab requires a lot of different skills, not the least of which is driving. But a recent article stated that Uber and Lyft want the Clark County Commission to allow their drivers to operate without a business license ("Uber brings pressure over licensing of drivers," Monday Review-Journal). Why?

All taxi drivers in Las Vegas have to undergo a three-month background investigation, at a cost of $90 out of pocket as a condition of employment. In the interim, taxi drivers receive a temporary permit for three months. Before the three months expire, drivers must return to the Nevada Taxicab Authority to obtain the permit — if the background check is passed. If not, you are not permitted to drive a taxi in Las Vegas.

Why is this not required of Uber and Lyft? How do you know who you are riding with when Uber and Lyft pick you up?

The Clark County Commission should realize that the great percentage of taxi drivers are supporting families, and every ride taken by Uber and Lyft is money out of our pockets. In the article, Uber offered an email from one rider who stated, "I am one of the tens of thousands of riders in the Las Vegas community who depends on Uber to get around." Where did this person obtain this statistic? The ride-hailing companies just started operating here, and I seriously doubt they are transporting tens of thousands of people.

While I wait in cab lines for my turn, I observe some people with their phones out, waiting for their ride. Many visitors and business people need to get to meetings or to the airport and do not have time to stand around waiting for a ride-hailing company. What did these people use before Uber and Lyft arrived? Taxis. The commission should impose the same requirements on Uber and Lyft drivers as it does for taxi drivers. Let's even the playing field and not shun the thousands of cabdrivers who have served Las Vegas for years.

Gary Lichtenstein

Las Vegas

American values

I am truly amazed at some of the recent comments from presidential candidates. I think Americans should be more concerned about being shot by some American yahoo than by a terrorist.

Every day, we read of shootings, and not just simple incidents such as children playing with guns and killing other children, or domestic quarrels getting out of hand. I am talking about shooters, be they mentally disturbed or not, committing mass shootings in the United States, killing children in schools, attacking military posts or opening fire at malls. Yet as a nation, we do nothing.

We actually have Republican presidential candidates talking about registering Muslims in our country. Do we truly want to add this to America's dark history of how we treated Native Americans or tolerated slavery and created Japanese internment camps? We need to closely examine who we are as a nation, why we are a nation and our core values.

We must be doing a poor job of teaching our children about our history. This is a country where people fled from across the ocean to escape persecution and gain religious freedom and the opportunity to actually have a life. We lose part of what being American is about, not from the shootings carried out by terrorists, but by our own reactions as we whittle away our freedoms in exchange for the illusive security of our nation.

We are not a nation that builds walls. Our history tells us of how many walls we broke down in building a country based on laws and not kings. It is past time for us to speak out and not let our fears destroy the dream of the forefathers who created our republic.

Barbara Holland

Las Vegas

Government distrust

Government wonders why people dislike and mistrust it so much. The article by Ben Botkin and Bethany Barnes, detailing the alleged actions of Mary Jo Frazier while she was employed as Boulder City's animal control supervisor, is among many examples of why that distrust exists ("Manager arrested, but arrest quashed," Wednesday Review-Journal).

There is something fundamentally wrong with a system that allows an employee to avoid criminal charges related to alleged job misconduct, and lets her quit and happily collect benefits as if nothing ever happened.

Kurt Grosse

Las Vegas