Latest Sharing Economy Headlines

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

Uber Hires Ex-Regulator for Safety Advice; Website Says Software Flaw Caused Accident

May 9 2018 // Uber Technologies Inc. on Monday said it has retained a former top U.S. transportation official to advise it on safety after a fatal self-driving crash in March, but it declined to comment on a technology website’s...

Drive to Autonomous Vehicles Slows After Series of Accidents

May 2 2018 // A series of high-profile accidents involving self-driving cars are slowing the mad rush into the autonomous vehicles business, according to a report issued Wednesday.The accidents, some of them fatal, have ignited a debate...

California High Court Rules on Independent Contractors Matter

May 1 2018 // In a big win for labor advocates, the California Supreme Court on Monday limited businesses from classifying workers as independent contractors who can’t receive key employment protections.Experts expect the ruling...

Lloyd’s Sees Insurance Helping Burgeoning Sharing Economy Grow

Apr 30 2018 // A new report commissioned by Lloyd’s of London finds a role for insurance in helping the sharing economy grow by clearly defining the risks in the peer-to-peer world. However, differing views on who should take on...

Uber Drivers Are Not Employees Under Federal Law, Judge Rules

Apr 13 2018 // A U.S. judge in Philadelphia has ruled that limousine drivers for Uber Technologies Inc. are independent contractors and not the company’s employees under federal law, the first ruling of its kind on a crucial issue...

Uber Wants Pay Inequality Accord to Also Settle Sex Harassment Claims

Apr 10 2018 // Uber Technologies Inc.’s $10 million settlement with women engineers who complained they were underpaid compared with men would also rid the ride-hailing giant of liability for potentially hundreds of sexual...

Uber Seeks to Have California Suit by Woman Hit on Freeway Thrown out

Apr 6 2018 // Uber Technologies Inc. is trying to fend off a lawsuit by a woman who claims she was seriously injured after her driver ordered her out of the car in the middle of a California freeway.The ridesharing company is asking a...

Safety Experts Weigh In on Autonomous Car Standards After Uber, Tesla Fatal Crashes

Apr 4 2018 // Autonomous cars should be required to meet standards on their ability to detect potential hazards and better ways are needed to keep their human drivers ready to assume control, U.S. auto safety and technology experts said...

Declarations

Apr 2 2018 // Autonomous Caution“Unlike Arizona, California has taken a safety driven approach when developing autonomous vehicle regulations.” — Jim Frazier, a California Assemblyman, urged caution in his state...

More Relatives of Victim of Uber Driverless Car Crash Hire Lawyer

Apr 1 2018 // More family members of a woman killed by an Uber Technologies Inc. self-driving vehicle have hired legal counsel, indicating the ride services firm’s legal problems may not be over in the first fatality caused by an...

Uber Settles with Family of Victim of Driverless Accident

Mar 29 2018 // The family of the woman killed by an Uber Technologies Inc. self-driving vehicle in Arizona has reached a settlement with the ride services company, ending a potential legal battle over the first fatality caused by an...

Human Influence Makes Autonomous Vehicle Programming Unsafe: Professor

Mar 29 2018 // The way autonomous vehicles are currently being programmed may not be safe because the programs are copying humans, according to a computer professor in the state where the first pedestrian fatality occurred n a collision...

Uber Won’t Renew Autonomous-Vehicle License for California

Mar 28 2018 // Uber Technologies Inc. won’t renew a license to operate self-driving cars in California while the company evaluates how one of its vehicles killed a pedestrian in Arizona last week.The San Francisco-based company...

Uber Settles Employee Gender, Racial Bias Lawsuit for $10 Million

Mar 28 2018 // Uber Technologies Inc. has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by two women engineers who accused the ride-services company of gender and race discrimination.The settlement, disclosed in a...

Uber Cut Back on Safety Sensors on Volvo Involved in Fatal Accidents: Reuters

Mar 27 2018 // When Uber decided in 2016 to retire its fleet of self-driving Ford Fusion cars in favor of Volvo sport utility vehicles, it also chose to scale back on one notable piece of technology: the safety sensors used to detect...

Arizona Governor Halts Uber’s Self-Driving Car Testing

Mar 27 2018 // The governor of Arizona has suspended Uber’s ability to test self-driving cars on public roads in the state following a fatal crash last week that killed a 49-year-old pedestrian.The decision to block Uber...

Supplier Claims Uber Disabled Its Safety Tech in Volvo That Caused Pedestrian Fatality

Mar 27 2018 // Uber Technologies Inc. disabled the standard collision-avoidance technology in the Volvo SUV that struck and killed a woman in Arizona last week, according to the auto-parts maker that supplied the vehicle’s radar...

Waymo Claims Its Driverless Car Would Have Avoided Uber’s Fatal Accident

Mar 26 2018 // The head of Alphabet Inc.’s autonomous driving unit, Waymo, said on Saturday that the company’s technology would have safely handled the situation confronting an Uber self-driving vehicle last week when it...

After Uber Crash, Florida Still Welcomes Free-Range Robot Cars

Mar 26 2018 // Florida has been trying to lure self-driving cars to the state for testing on public roads, shaping laws that are much more lax than places like California and New York. The fatal accident last week in Arizona, another...

Uber’s Self-Driving Cars Insured by Old Republic

Mar 22 2018 // Old Republic International Corp., the Chicago-based insurer, provides commercial liability coverage of as much as $5 million for each of Uber Technologies Inc.’s self-driving vehicles.The policy covers bodily injury,...