Latest Sharing Economy Headlines

All the headlines from our Sharing Economy Topic Page, ordered by recency.

No Criminal Liability for Uber in Fatal 2018 Arizona Self-Driving Car Crash

Mar 6 2019 // Uber Technologies Inc. is not criminally liable in a March 2018 crash in Tempe, Arizona, in which one of the company’s self-driving cars struck and killed a pedestrian, prosecutors said on Tuesday.The Yavapai County...

Carmakers on Mobility Utopia: ‘Show Us the Money’

Mar 5 2019 // Jim Hackett’s first job at Ford Motor Co. was to figure out ways to make money that didn’t involve selling cars. One of his first big decisions as the executive in charge of smart mobility, a catch-all term for...

Marsh Names AIG’s Bauer as Sharing Economy, Mobility Practice Leader

Mar 4 2019 // Robert Bauer has joined insurance broker Marsh to lead its U.S. Sharing Economy & Mobility Practice. Bauer will focus on developing and delivering products and services to companies operating in the new economy,...

Lyft, Uber Shift Some Risk to Captive Insurers

Mar 4 2019 // Ride-sharing giants Lyft Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. seem to have found the same solution for dealing with the risks of managing millions of drivers on the road: Creating their own insurers in Hawaii.On Friday, Lyft...

5 Reasons Autonomous Cars Won’t Be Available Anytime Soon

Feb 18 2019 // In the world of autonomous vehicles, Pittsburgh and Silicon Valley are bustling hubs of development and testing. But ask those involved in self-driving vehicles when they might actually be seen carrying passengers in every...

Uber’s London License Faces New Legal Challenge as Cab Drivers Fight Back

Feb 13 2019 // Months after Uber Technologies Inc. won a reprieve in a high-stakes battle over its operations in the U.K. capital, its London license is back in question.United Cabbies Group, which represents taxi drivers in the capital,...

Uber Faces $1.3B Tax Suit in UK from Lawyer Who Won Major Brexit Ruling

Feb 7 2019 // The lawyer who spearheaded a landmark court case — which ended with the European Union’s top court ruling that the U.K. can unilaterally reverse Brexit — appeared in court Wednesday for a fresh battle,...

Relatives of Woman Killed in Arizona Uber Crash File $10M Claim

Feb 4 2019 // Two relatives of a woman killed when she was struck by an autonomous Uber vehicle have filed a $10 million claim against the Phoenix, Ariz. suburb where the incident occurred in March. The Arizona Republic reported the...

Insurance Tries to Keep Up with Sharing Economy

Feb 4 2019 // As more and more consumers click for services and borrow rather than buy, the sharing economy is benefitting.According to Harvard Business Review, the sharing or on-demand economy is attracting more than 22.4 million...

Safety Sharing Economy: Toyota Offers Its Driver Assistance Technology to Competitors

Jan 8 2019 // Toyota Motor Corp. — in an unusual move for the cut-throat car business — has decided to share with rivals an automated safety system that uses self-driving technology to keep cars from crashing.The system,...

Judge Blocks NYC Law Demanding Airbnb Disclosures

Jan 8 2019 // A New York City law forcing Airbnb and HomeAway home-sharing platforms to reveal a “breathtaking” amount of information about their businesses seems unconstitutional, a judge decided Thursday, forcing the law...

How Big Tech Flirted with Insurance in 2018

Jan 2 2019 // The almost weekly headlines about insurers and venture capitalists investing in insurtechs and tech-savvy insurance startups sometimes blocked the view of what established big technology firms were doing in...

Uber Pledges to Fight UK Court Decision that Drivers Should Be Treated as Workers

Dec 27 2018 // Uber pledged [on Dec. 19] to challenge a U.K. Court of Appeal decision that drivers should be classed as workers rather than self-employed employees, a verdict that has potentially wide-ranging implications for the rapidly...

Pennsylvania Says Uber Can Resume Self-Driving Car Testing on Public Roads

Dec 19 2018 // Uber Technologies Inc received approval from Pennsylvania to resume self-driving car testing on public roads this week, state records show, nine months after it suspended the program following a deadly accident in...

Carmakers, Ride-Hail Firms Stress Digital Even As Vehicle Cyber Risks Worsen

Dec 18 2018 // Hopping into an Uber or a Car2Go is a great way to get around. Unfortunately, hackers agree, exploiting weaknesses in apps to go on “phantom rides” with someone else’s profile.From such trips—like a man...

A Cautious Uber to Try Self-Driving Vehicles on Roads Again

Dec 17 2018 // Uber Technologies Inc. is plotting the return of its self-driving cars, but the company known for its hard-charging style is taking a much more conservative approach as it tries to recover from a fatal accident that...

Georgia Claims Uber Owes State $22M in Sales Taxes, Other Charges

Dec 10 2018 // Uber could owe tens of millions of dollars to Georgia if the state is successful in a legal battle.The Georgia Department of Revenue has billed Uber $22.1 million for sales taxes and other charges that it maintains are...

Chinese Manufacturer Ninebot’s Dominance Has Startups Sharing Scooter Product Risks

Dec 6 2018 // Scooter-sharing company Lime recently relayed a troubling message to its users: a portion of its fleet was at risk of bursting into flames.The startup recalled about 2,000 vehicles, less than one percent of its scooters,...

A Cautious Uber to Try Self-Driving Vehicles on Roads Again

Dec 6 2018 // Uber Technologies Inc. is plotting the return of its self-driving cars, but the company known for its hard-charging style is taking a much more conservative approach as it tries to recover from a fatal accident that...

Waymo Self-Driving, Fare-Generating Taxis Hit the Road in Arizona

Dec 5 2018 // Alphabet’s Waymo on Wednesday launched a significant development in its costly, decade-long quest for autonomous transportation: self-driving taxis that actually generate fares.With little fanfare, the company has...