Gov. Jared Polis vetoes bill to tighten security, vetting of ride-share drivers in Colorado

Gov Jared Polis vetoed rule Friday that would ve instituted a slew of new precaution and reporting requirements on ride-share companies like Uber and Lyft though he also directed state regulators to take approaches to improve rider safety In a letter describing his veto of House Bill the governor acknowledged the need for tighter regulations on ride-share companies But he was swayed to reject the bill in part because of Uber s threat to leave the state if the bill were signed into law He wrote that while he inferred ride-share companies could do more to protect riders and drivers HB- goes beyond a narrowly tailored community safety focus to include concerning provisions like allowing for trips to be recorded upon request and prohibiting arbitration clauses in rider agreements Together these changes would jeopardize these services in Colorado to an untenable degree and could very well lead to companies that Coloradans rely on exiting the field raising prices or reducing the number of drivers Polis wrote HB- passed the legislature earlier this month on the final day of the session It was sponsored by Rep Jenny Willford a Northglenn Democrat who was sexually assaulted in the back of a Lyft last year and it was supported by lawmakers of both parties One day after the bill passed Polis refused to say whether he would sign or veto it Still his rejection was expected and the bill s supporters including more than two dozen lawmakers published an open letter urging him to sign it earlier this week Another letter was sent from women who were sexually assaulted by the same ride-share driver between and We are not seeking revenge nor are we trying to dismantle a multi-billion-dollar industry the women wrote What we want is simple to ensure that what happened to us doesn t happen to someone else The act which would ve required Uber and Lyft to adopt a number of framework changes to improve tourist safety was opposed by the ride-share companies who argued the bill s requirements were unworkable In addition to threatening to leave Uber sought to enlist both drivers and riders to lobby lawmakers to vote against the measure Lyft sent Polis a letter several days after the bill passed urging him to veto it as did other organizations concerned about increased levels of drunk driving should ride-share companies leave The measure would ve required ride-share companies to conduct background checks on their drivers every six months and to allow drivers or riders to request that every trip be recorded People convicted of certain crimes would ve been prohibited from working as drivers and ride-share companies would ve been directed to deactivate drivers who the companies had determined had likely committed crimes The bill also required the companies to record sexual assaults and other misconduct to the legislature on a regular basis Drivers would ve been prohibited from sharing accounts from giving rides to unaccompanied minors without their guardian s approval and from offering food or drink to passengers Certain of those provisions were directly inspired by Willford s assault Her driver was a different man than the one on the profile with which she was matched for instance She has also stated the person who was supposed to be her driver had previously been convicted of a crime that should ve been caught by Lyft Related Articles Uber says it may pull out of Colorado if ride-hailing safety bill passes Lyft driver faces charges in sexual assault of Colorado lawmaker Colorado lawmaker sues Lyft over sexual assault by a driver calling for more protections for riders Colorado drivers start worker-owned ride-hailing platform to compete with Uber Lyft Willford argued that what happened to her was part of a broader pattern with Lyft and Uber Uber released that it had received more than complaints of sexual assault between and according to CNN Lyft noted it received more than reports between and In his veto letter Polis acknowledged that the status quo isn t sufficient and that increased vetting of drivers represented a commonsense step forward He directed the Department of Regulatory Agencies to work with Willford and the bill s other sponsors and other interested parties to identify shared procedures objectives that can be achieved through immediate executive action and through targeted legislative guidelines during the legislative session He also directed the agency to work with state utility regulators who oversee ride-share companies to review their current regulations and strengthen them where authority presently exists The veto is Polis sixth of the year It s also his second rejection of a bill that sought to better regulate tech companies In April the governor vetoed another bipartisan bill to require tighter scrutiny of user conduct from social media companies The state Senate then swiftly voted to override Polis veto but House lawmakers dropped their plans to do the same in that chamber after encouragement 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