The following email was the response from Rep. Vicki Lopez who represents Miami District 113 to our petition to support improving the ride-share market in Miami and providing better protections to drivers of Uber, Lyft, and other Ride-share platforms.
District 113 is an area with a fairly high volume of ride-share drivers. It is also one of the areas with the greatest movement and use of these services. It is sad to see how some politicians selected to watch over and protect their constituents simply turn their backs on the problems that are affecting both drivers and customers who use these services.
You can draw your own conclusions. We are not here to judge but to share information.
Jurek, Thanks for reaching out. Apologies for not responding sooner, as we just recently finished the Legislative Session. We received similar correspondence from you and Jonathan in December 2023, and I spoke with Jonathan over the phone back then.
Thank you for providing your concerns regarding Uber and the issues the ride-share drivers are experiencing. We will take this under advisement.
We will forward your concerns to Uber. Unfortunately, we don’t believe Uber will change their business model and the Legislature doesn’t interfere with the free market. Thanks.
Best,
Alessandro Marchesani
Legislative Aide
Representative Vicki L. Lopez
District 113
District Office
2100 Coral Way
Coral Gables, FL 33145
Suite 702
(305) 854 - 0365
Tallahassee Office
1101 The Capitol
402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
(850) 717 - 5113
From: Lopez, VickiSent: Friday, April 12, 2024 12:44:28 PMTo: Marchesani, AleSubject: Fw: Dear Representative Vicki Lopez
Vicki Lopez
State Representative – HD 113
District Office:
2100 Coral Way, Suite 702
Miami, FL 33145
(305) 854-0365
Tallahassee Office:
1101 The Capitol
402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
(850) 717-5113
From: admin@miamirideshareunion.org <admin@miamirideshareunion.org>Sent: Friday, April 12, 2024 4:47 AMTo: Lopez, VickiSubject: Dear Representative Vicki Lopez
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Dear Representative Vicki Lopez
An email was sent to your office on February 27, 2024, and I never received an answer back. I can understand that your agenda may be out of space, but the problem we are reporting is of utmost importance due to the severity of the problems that rideshare drivers are facing. Rideshare drivers in Miami and throughout Florida are exposed to all types of abuse by companies like Uber and Lyft. Part of these issues were mentioned in the previous email.
Just to mention a few examples again. Uber and Lyft have been warned for months that many drivers are using drugs while offering services. The number of drivers using fake accounts, from relatives or rented, is exorbitant. Many people are driving without car insurance. Uber and Lyft are clogging the streets with drivers unnecessarily causing traffic congestion and accidents more frequently. All of this is causing auto insurance companies to cancel their policies, disproportionately increase policy costs, or refuse to cover accident damages. In my case, today I must decide whether to buy food or pay my insurance of $750 USD for a car from 2020 and another from 2018.
It is important to the residents of your district that these issues are addressed as soon as possible. I hope you can respond within your possibilities.
Jurek Martinez
Co-Founder / IT Development
Phone: +1 (305) 766-2509
Website: www.miamirideshareunion.org
From: J Martinez Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2024 10:23 PMTo: Vicki.Lopez@myfloridahouse.gov
Subject: Dear Representative Vicki Lopez
Importance: High
Dear Representative Vicki Lopez,
My name is Jurek Martinez a full time Uber driver in Miami and one of the founders of the group Miami Rideshare Union http://www.miamirideshareunion.org
I have been driving for Uber in South Florida since 2014. Right now, thousands of drivers like me are facing real hardships caused by many issues including labor exploitation by Tech companies like Uber and Lyft. Some of the problems we are facing are.
- Considerable number of illegal accounts doing Uber and Lyft including Uber Eats, DoorDash, Spark and Instacart accounts. A high percentage are using stolen identities. (This is because there is no government entity regulating who drive for those companies)
- No legal labor protection. These companies are lowering what they pay and sometimes is less than $0.40 per mile and $0.00 per minute. (they are free to do whatever they want because the Rideshare drivers are not legally covered by any government entity)
- Drivers are losing cars, driving cars in poor condition because the money they earn is not enough to cover the expenses they incur in running their business. (Uber and Lyft manipulates, hide, and don’t provide the necessary information to new drivers taking advantage of the lack of knowledge or ignorance of more than 95% of drivers)
- HB221 requiring Rideshare companies to provide $1,000,000 Liability is irrational. (Drivers of UberX, UberXL, Uber Comfort and Uber Electric categories should not be paying for such a high liability)
- Because the high liability Uber is not paying the cost of the insurance anymore. (They are taking an average of $1400 or more a month from every full-time driver income to pay for the insurance)
- Also, because of the high Liability we have a $2500 deductible that every single damage to our car that is under that amount must be paid by the driver. Including damages made by passengers.
- Uber and Lyft are hiring new drivers every day in Miami, Broward and West Palm Beach causing horrible traffic on city streets. These actions by Uber and Lyft generate more problems for cities and economic gains for them. Also, their actions lead to
• Increase in the number of cars accidents.
• Increase in the number of fraudulent car accidents to obtain benefits from the $1,000,000 liability.
• Less trips for drivers and much less profits
• Lack of security for the residents and visitors using these services
• Due to the low payments of these companies, many drivers are creating an exponentially large market for cash trips without having the required permits.
• The actions of these companies are further impoverishing the lower and lower middle class of society. They, along with the insurance companies, are taking 70% of the income out of the state.
Due to the nature of these issues and many more not mentioned here, we demand that we must be heard. The abuse is big and there is no end to it. We have a document of 16 pages denouncing all the issues we have with these companies.
I am hoping for the opportunity to meet with you to discuss our concerns and provide possible solutions to solve all those problems. I am also ready to fit into your busy schedule. Waiting for your prompt response.
You can reach us at
Jurek Martinez: +1 (305) 766-2509 (any day and anytime)
Jonathan Cruz: +1 (917) 683-7939 (any day and any time)
Thank you for considering my request.
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