Writer Describes How His Uber Ride Was Pulled Over in “Innovation-Friendly” Colorado

The state of Colorado prides
itself on innovation. The Democrat governor, John Hickenlooper,
even launched an innovation “branding”
campaign to that effect. The signing into law of a bill that
“legalized” ride-share services like Uber and Lyft
last month certainly fit into that narrative. Or so thought
Dave Cook before, he says, he was pulled over by police in a speed
trap in Denver on the way to the airport in an Uber ride. He writes

at Geek Wire:

My Uber driver was tagged and we were pulled over. There was no
mention of speeding when the officer approached. The officer, who
didn’t identify himself immediately, asked for the Uber driver’s
license, registration and insurance (The driver had all of that).
The officer then opened the backseat door where I was sitting and
asked if I was paying for the ride.

I said what do you mean?

He asked again: Are you paying to have this person drive you to
the airport?

I said yes. He then asked me how much I was being charged. I
said I didn’t know the exact amount because I hadn’t reached the
destination yet. He pushed the issue about the cost and then asked
if this was an Uber ride. Both the driver and I said yes. Then the
officer asked again how much the driver was charging me. I said the
estimate was somewhere in the $35 to $45 range.

The officer then told us that “he was going to educate us on
Colorado law today.” Uber was illegal in the state, he
said.

Cook writes that eventually the cop asked him for his license as
well, and then gave the driver a ticket for speeding. According to
Cook, the cop was also pressuring him to take a free ride from the
police but would not answer when Cook asked whether what he was
doing in an Uber ride was illegal. Read the rest of Cook’s account

here.

Check out Reason on Uber and Reason TV on the
D.C. government’s attempt to kill Uber in the nation’s capital
below: