Zhang Qian, Sky Gidge

    zhqcindy@163.com

    IT was a normal Uber ride to Xiangmihu for Lin Jin, until she stepped from the car and the driver drove over her foot.

    It happened two years ago, but — despite promises from the driver and Uber — Lin hasn’t been compensated for the hospital bills.

    “At least they (Uber) owe me an apology,” Lin said. “The driver and Uber ... are just passing the buck to each other. No one is taking responsibility for the accident.”

    Lin paid for X-rays at a hospital and had to stay off her foot. According to evidence provided to the Shenzhen Daily, traffic police decided the Uber driver needed to take full responsibility for the accident.

    The driver told Lin that the insurance company for his car would pay the medical costs. When the driver didn’t pay and became unreachable, Lin contacted the person in charge of Uber in Shenzhen.

    “She blocked my phone number after talking with me a few times,” said Lin.

    So who is legally responsible for Lin’s injury? That’s where it gets complicated.

    According to lawyers and even a ride-hailing app representative, who is responsible for a passenger’s injury during a ride is hard to say.

    The ride-hailing app company has a joint responsibility with the driver, according to Ma Huihui, a lawyer with the Guangdong Jindi law firm. But — in general — drivers are responsible, especially if they violated traffic laws leading to injury or accident.

    To become a driver for Uber, one has to agree to take responsibility for violating traffic rules, according to Ma.

    But even ride-hailing apps admit that who is responsible is confusing. A media contact at Didi Chuxing said she couldn’t directly say if private drivers or ride-hailing companies are responsible for injuries, because it depends on what the traffic police write in the accident report.

    The laws concerning a passenger getting injured during a taxi ride are clear, and there is a government department set up to handle disputes.

    The driver and the company are responsible for injuries. A dispute between an injured passenger and a taxi company can also be brought up with the municipal transport commission.

    But the transport commission has no authority over car-hailing app companies.

    “If something bad happened to someone, and they didn’t know where to complain — that’s terrible,” said a Shenzhen taxi driver surnamed Qiu, explaining a “weakness” he saw with car-hailing apps.

    “Passengers can complain, but don’t know where to complain to,” said Qiu. “It’s not like us taxi drivers, we have our companies, there is a complaints department. They answer immediately.”

    On Dec. 23 last year James Sung was taking an Uber ride when the tail of a large truck hit the car, shattering a back window and leaving Sung with scratches.

    His appeals to Uber’s customer service on their official Facebook have gone unanswered, according to Sung.

    “Part of me loves the concept of Uber, but to have them completely disregard the safety of their passengers is irresponsible to say the least,” said Sung.