London's safety blitz of rideshare drivers sees 30 per cent of vehicles fail - so far
More than halfway through a licensing and safety blitz by the City of London, almost a third of the Ubers and Lyfts checked have failed their inspections.
One hundred private vehicles-for-hire licensed by city hall to carry passengers were randomly chosen to report for an inspection at Silverwood Arena between Tuesday and Friday this week.
“The first few days we had 33 vehicles inspected, and of those, ten failed and they were taken off the road and off the [ride hailing] platform,” reported Director of Municipal Compliance Orest Katolyk, on Thursday afternoon.
Since 2017, the city has licensed private vehicle-for-hire drivers and online platforms that choose to operate in London for the purposes of customer safety and consumer protection.
Katolyk said that vehicle safety concerns were flagged in most of the 30 per cent that have failed their inspections since Tuesday.
“The majority of reasons that they were removed off the road were for safety of the vehicle - things like bald tires, vehicles being too old to operate under our by-law, and also [overly] tinted windows,” he explains.
The results surprised Tyler Griffiths who said that he uses Uber about twice a week, “[It's] concerning, especially when the safety test is based on things that [vehicles] need to be safe, like brakes and tires.”
Heavily tinted windows are a big concern for weekly Uber and Lyft passenger Abbi Otis because London has been identified as a hub for sex trafficking, “I may not see who's inside and not know what to expect. I can't see who's inside [or] what’s inside.”
There are currently 7,500 drivers licensed to operate as Ubers or Lyfts in the city of London.
By comparison, there are just 700 taxi licenses.
The 67 remaining drivers have until Friday afternoon to appear for their random inspection or the city will work with Uber and Lyft to have them removed from the apps.
“Anytime there's a violation of the by-law, we consult with the platforms and work very closely with them to ensure that those vehicles and those drivers are taken off the platform,” Katolyk added.
The city’s next licensing and safety blitz will focus on taxis.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'It’s a dream come true': Holt, Liberal cabinet sworn-in to office
Susan Holt, the province's first female premier, and 18 cabinet ministers took the oath of office in the chamber of the legislative assembly.
Alberta Premier Smith gets 91 per cent support in leadership review
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith received a dominating 91.5 per cent vote of support from her United Conservative Party members in a scheduled leadership review vote on Saturday.
Live from New York: Harris making surprise 'Saturday Night Live' appearance with election looming
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris has made an unannounced trip to New York to appear on an episode of 'Saturday Night Live,' briefly stepping away from the battleground states she’s been campaigning in with just three days to go before the election.
Multiple RTDNA wins for CTV News, including 2 for W5
CTV News won four national news awards and a local news award from RTDNA Canada, the organization announced Saturday night at a gala event in Toronto.
2 people charged in Toronto incident that left police horse and officer injured were out on bail, police say
The driver of a pickup truck who allegedly struck a police horse and rammed several cruisers on Queen Street West on Friday afternoon was out on bail at the time of the incident, Toronto police say.
Here's what you can buy for $729,000 in 8 Ottawa neighbourhoods
CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at what you can buy for the average Ottawa home price of $729,000 in eight Ottawa neighbourhoods.
Calgary police issue warning after receiving over 150 calls relating to personal fireworks
Calgary police issued a media statement Saturday reminding residents about the rules regarding personal fireworks after receiving over 150 complaints.
Florida's convicted killer clown released from prison for the murder of her husband's then-wife
A woman who pleaded guilty to dressing as a clown and in 1990 murdering the wife of a man she later married was released from prison on Saturday.
Vancouver quietly proclaimed Chip Wilson Day as billionaire installed sign calling B.C. NDP 'communist'
On the same day Chip Wilson erected a controversial sign at his Vancouver mansion, the city was quietly honouring the billionaire and his wife.