Uber will be sticking around in Nevada as a District Court judge denies a restraining order filed by the office of Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto to prohibit the ridesharing company from operating in Clark County.
District Judge Douglas Herndon did not grant the restraining order because he said the Office of the Attorney General was not able to provide adequate evidence that having Uber in Nevada will be detrimental to the state. Additionally, Herndon supported competition between Uber and the taxi companies operating in Las Vegas, which is a part of Clark County.
Taxi companies are opposing the presence of Uber because they are arguing that ridesharing companies are not imposed with the same strict regulations as traditional cabs. For starters, Uber drivers don't undergo the same level of background checks, are not subjected to random drug tests, and don't have restrictions on the number of work hours they can log.
Herndon countered this argument by stating that there's really no effective way of screening for psychopaths.
Mostly in the Las Vegas Strip and the nearby airport area, cabs make about two to three million trips in a month. Uber is slowly cutting into that as more and more drivers sign up with the ridesharing company. However, like the cabs, Uber drivers can't pick up passengers along the Strip.
To use the ridesharing service, customers must first download the Uber app, sign up for an account and then provide their credit card details to pay. When a ride is requested, the app specifies an estimated fare total and arrival time. Only when a customer confirms the ride and a driver agrees to provide the ride will the transaction be set.
Nevada regulators have already tried to shut down the service since Uber launched Friday. At least 15 cars have been impounded in the process, with transportation authorities posing as customers to snag Uber drivers.
In a push to be allowed to legally operate in Las Vegas, Uber started an online petition encouraging Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Governor Brian Sandoval to stand up against the "Big Taxi Cartels." The petition also launched a hashtag, #NVneedsUber, on Twitter.
Two judges from northern Nevada have already approved requests for temporary restraining orders filed by the state. It is not clear how Herndon's decision for Clark County will impact the other two orders.
A preliminary injunction hearing was set by Herndon for Nov. 14.
