綠燈亮了，我的優(yōu)步專車司機(jī)向左轉(zhuǎn)，進(jìn)入了舊金山的一條單向街道。突然，有人對(duì)著我們的豐田普銳斯狂按喇叭。

當(dāng)時(shí)是凌晨三點(diǎn)，天色很暗，根本看不清周圍的情況。但我知道，我的優(yōu)步專車與另一輛車發(fā)生了碰撞。

我告訴司機(jī)，他應(yīng)該靠邊停車。他似乎并未意識(shí)到應(yīng)該這樣做。他或許被驚呆了，只是盯著對(duì)方的車，看著對(duì)方司機(jī)慢慢把車停在了路邊。

兩年前，優(yōu)步和Lyft等專車公司剛開始流行時(shí)，就有人批評(píng)這些公司的司機(jī)保險(xiǎn)政策，甚至根本沒有提供保險(xiǎn)。如果專車司機(jī)在運(yùn)送乘客的過程中發(fā)生事故，應(yīng)該怎么辦？應(yīng)該由誰對(duì)任何損害或人身傷害負(fù)責(zé)？

我即將找到這些問題的答案。

我下了車，站在路邊，向周圍看了看。我的專車只有一小塊凹陷，一個(gè)車燈周圍有一些刮痕。但另外一輛車卻沒有這么幸運(yùn)。駕駛員位置的車門上撞出了一個(gè)明顯的坑。

我的優(yōu)步專車司機(jī)向我保證，會(huì)把我送回家。當(dāng)時(shí)我們正站在他的車邊。附近，另外一輛車的司機(jī)檢查了受損情況，看了看我們，顯然很生氣。

我跟司機(jī)說，我可以走回家，因?yàn)槲壹译x得很近，他應(yīng)該留在那里等到事故解決。畢竟，司機(jī)不能離開事故現(xiàn)場(chǎng)。事實(shí)上，我的公寓距離事故地點(diǎn)要走20分鐘，但我希望能夠盡快回家。搭便車回家肯定是不妥的，但我太累了而且有些害怕，不想等到他們交涉完具體的細(xì)節(jié)。如果對(duì)方報(bào)警怎么辦？一般人都會(huì)這樣做，但這種可能性讓我很不舒服，盡管我完全是無辜的。

當(dāng)我最終回到家后，或者在那個(gè)周末晚些時(shí)候我再一次打開Uber應(yīng)用時(shí)，一個(gè)窗口提示我對(duì)那一次專車服務(wù)評(píng)分。這一次，我留下了評(píng)論。 “我們遇到了一次小交通事故，我想司機(jī)肯定向優(yōu)步報(bào)告了……”

最主要的是，我想解釋為什么這一次我只給了司機(jī)四星評(píng)級(jí)，而不是五星。司機(jī)和乘車人只有在評(píng)分不低于特定評(píng)級(jí)的情況下，才能保持活躍用戶身份。

第二天，一位名叫“約什” 的優(yōu)步客戶服務(wù)團(tuán)隊(duì)成員給我發(fā)來了一條信息?！凹s什”對(duì)于事故造成的不便深表歉意，并告訴我，他已經(jīng)將車費(fèi)退還到了我的信用卡——好消息，雖然這只為我節(jié)省了7美元，因?yàn)槲沂褂昧朔浅１阋说腢berPool拼車選項(xiàng)。此外，他還告訴我，未來幾天，將有一名詹姆士河保險(xiǎn)公司的理算員聯(lián)系我。

這讓我很緊張——這跟我有什么關(guān)系？我并沒有開車——但約什向我保證，這只是協(xié)議的一部分。

優(yōu)步的保險(xiǎn)公司大概只是想了解盡可能多的信息，以便確定損害程度和責(zé)任方，以及由誰來埋單。眾所周知，優(yōu)步和Lyft等公司一直在竭力避免事故發(fā)生時(shí)的責(zé)任，他們告訴駕駛員，在申請(qǐng)公司保險(xiǎn)之前，先通過個(gè)人保險(xiǎn)申請(qǐng)理賠。（最近，這種做法開始有所改變，因?yàn)樵S多保險(xiǎn)公司已經(jīng)明確規(guī)定，其個(gè)人保險(xiǎn)政策不適用于專車事故。）

2013年，優(yōu)步增加了對(duì)UberX服務(wù)的保險(xiǎn)，該項(xiàng)服務(wù)使用的駕駛員沒有商業(yè)執(zhí)照或商業(yè)保險(xiǎn)。最初，這項(xiàng)保險(xiǎn)僅涵蓋駕駛員接單之后和運(yùn)送乘客的過程。后來，優(yōu)步將保險(xiǎn)范圍擴(kuò)大，在某些情況下，凡在上班期間的駕駛員均可享受這項(xiàng)保險(xiǎn)。

對(duì)于專車司機(jī)發(fā)生事故的頻率，優(yōu)步發(fā)言人拒絕發(fā)表意見。但他向我們介紹了公司的安全措施和政策，其中提到了優(yōu)步的保險(xiǎn)規(guī)定和駕駛員背景審查等。優(yōu)步的政策規(guī)定，在使用優(yōu)步服務(wù)過程中不斷發(fā)生嚴(yán)重事故的駕駛員和乘客，將不能繼續(xù)使用這項(xiàng)服務(wù)。

后來，確實(shí)有一位來自優(yōu)步保險(xiǎn)公司的人通過手機(jī)聯(lián)系到我，詢問事故的情況——在我使用優(yōu)步服務(wù)的時(shí)候，優(yōu)步便獲得了我的手機(jī)號(hào)。我想他確認(rèn)，自己并沒有受傷，然后我盡可能詳細(xì)地解釋了兩車相撞的情形。通話只持續(xù)了幾分鐘，之后，我再也沒有聽到保險(xiǎn)公司或優(yōu)步對(duì)這起事故的后續(xù)處理情況。

這起事故發(fā)生在一個(gè)半月之前，是我使用優(yōu)步或Lyft遭遇的第一次也是唯一一次交通事故。盡管過程沒有什么麻煩，但依舊有一些令人不解的細(xì)節(jié)。我的專車司機(jī)是否向優(yōu)步匯報(bào)了那次事故？如果沒有，他是否會(huì)因?yàn)闆]有匯報(bào)而遇到麻煩？更糟糕的是——他是否會(huì)因此而被炒魷魚？(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))

譯者：劉進(jìn)龍/汪皓

審校：任文科

As the light turned green, my Uber driver turned left onto yet another one of San Francisco’s one-way streets. Then, a loud thump gently rattled our Toyata Prius.

It was very late, past 3 a.m., and too dark to see anything. But I immediately knew my Uber driver had collided with another car.

I quickly told my driver he should pull over, something he didn’t seem to realize he was supposed to do. Instead, he stared at the other car, probably in shock, as its driver slowly pulled over to the curb.

A couple of years ago, when ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft started to gain momentum, critics attacked their driver insurance policies, or lack thereof. What happens when a driver gets in an accident while ferrying passengers and who pays for any damage or injuries?

I was about to find out.

I stepped out into the street and looked around. My driver’s car had only a small dent and scratches around one of his headlights. The other car, however, didn’t get off so lightly. The driver’s door had a visible crater in it.

I can drive you home, my Uber driver reassured me as we stood in the street by his car. Nearby, the other car’s driver inspected his damaged car and us, visibly annoyed at the situation.

I told my driver I would walk because my house was nearby, and he should stay to deal with the accident. After all, you aren’t supposed to leave the scene of an accident. In truth, my apartment was a good 20-minute walk, but I just wanted to get home as soon as possible. Getting a ride home immediately would have felt wrong, and I was too tired and a bit too scared to stay until they exchanged the usual details. What if the other driver called the police? It’s a common thing to do, but the possibility made me uncomfortable despite my total innocence.

When I finally got home, or perhaps the next time I opened my Uber app later that weekend, I was prompted with the usual box to rate my ride. This time, I left a comment. “We got into a little car accident, I’m assuming he reported it to Uber…”

Mostly, I wanted to explain why I had given the driver only a four-star rating out of five for the trip. Drivers and riders can only remain active as long as their score doesn’t dip below a certain rating.

The following day, a member of Uber’s customer service team sent me a message. “Josh” profusely apologized about the inconvenience of the accident and told me he had refunded that trip to my credit card—great news, although it only saved me $7 as I was using the ultra-cheap UberPool carpooling option. Also, a James River Insurance Company adjuster would likely contact me in the next few days about the accident, he added.

This made me nervous—why should I be involved in this? I wasn’t driving—but Josh reassured me it was merely part of protocol.

Presumably, Uber’s insurance company would want as much detail about the accident as possible to determine the extent of the damage, who was at fault, and who should pay for it all. Companies like Uber and Lyft have notoriously worked to avoid as much responsibility as a possible when it comes to accidents like telling drivers to file claims through their personal insurance first before the company’s policy. (Recently, this practice has started changing after many insurance companies made clear that their personal policies didn’t cover ride-hailing accidents.)

In 2013, Uber added insurance coverage to its UberX service, which uses drivers who don’t have commercial licenses or commercial insurance. Originally, it only covered drivers after they had accepted a ride request and while they were transporting a passenger. Since then, Uber expanded it to cover drivers during their entire time on duty under certain circumstances.

An Uber spokesman declined to comment on how often its drivers get into accidents. Instead, he pointed us to the company’s safety measures and policies, which outline Uber’s insurance provisions and driver background checks, among other things. Uber’s policy says that drivers and riders who are consistently in serious accidents while using the service will no longer be allowed to use Uber.

Sure enough, later that week, someone from Uber’s insurance company called my cell phone—Uber has my number from when I use its service—to ask about the accident. I confirmed that I had no injuries, and then explained, with as much detail as possible, how my Uber driver collided into another car. The call only took a couple of minutes, and I never heard from the insurance company or Uber again about the accident.

This happened almost a month and a half ago, and it has been my first and only accident while using Uber or Lyft. Despite the ease of process, however, a few details remain unclear. Did my driver report the incident himself to Uber? If not, did he get in trouble for failing to? Worse—was he fired over this?