Lawmaker who voted to clamp down on Uber arrested for drink-driving
In a delicious twist of irony, a California state senator was arrested on Saturday for driving under the influence of alcohol only hours after voting for legislation that would subject the taxi app service Uber to a host of burdensome regulations.
Ben Hueso was spotted driving the wrong way down a one way street at 2:24am on Saturday morning. The arresting officers “observed [Hueso exhibiting] objective signs and symptoms of alcohol intoxication.”
Hueso whose two brothers own a San Francisco-based taxi company, voted with 20 other state senators to pass Assembly Bill 612 on Friday.
The California lawmaker was quick to apologise for his actions: "I am truly and profoundly sorry for the unacceptably poor personal judgment which I demonstrated last night. As someone who cares deeply about the public safety, I sincerely apologize to my family, my constituents and my colleagues in the Senate for breaching the trust they’ve all placed in me."
Uber has run into opposition from established companies and politicians across the world, ostensibly on the grounds of public safety and unfair competition. Some complaints, however, have bordered more on the eccentric rather than the luddite, with London Mayor Boris Johnson objecting to the company's "excessively bumptious" attitude.
Uber's CEO Travis Kalanick quickly took to Twitter to make it clear what he thought of the Ben Hueso's conduct.
You just can't make this stuff up – https://t.co/oyUg117kfZ – CA Senator votes to kill @uber and arrested for DUI just hours later
— travis kalanick (@travisk) August 25, 2014
The California incident will no doubt be grist to the mill for Uber, who have made safety a key feature of their public relations campaign.
Back in July, Kalanick penned an article in USA Today with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, pointing to Uber's positive impact on driving under the influence (DUI) arrests:
What’s especially encouraging is the impact Uber has already had on drunk driving, which is significant and meaningful. According to Uber’s analysis, DUI arrests in Seattle decreased by more than 10 per cent after Uber started serving riders and drivers in the city. We expect that kind of change is happening in cities around the world, and it’s the kind of progress that provides great hope for the next phase in the effort to end drunk driving.
Uber's new policy and strategy chief David Plouffe, a former Obama adviser, said in a statement last week that one of Uber's chief benefits has been to "make our roads safer, drastically cutting down on drunk and distracted driving."
Uber is not the only one to point to the potential safety benefits of ride-sharing services. In July, the Washington Post pointed to data indicating that the rise of ride-sharing services has correlated with a fall in DUI arrests.