Welcome to the latest edition of AFT NewsWatch, a weekly service of Advocates for Fairness in Transportation. Visit the Archive to read previous editions.

AFT is an ad hoc group of regulated transportation service companies dedicated to informing and educating the public on threats to public safety from new so-called ride-sharing or ride-booking services such as Uber, Lyft and Sidecar.

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This Uber driver wants you to know that he has a gun

The NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission has repeatedly fielded questions about whether or not cab drivers should be allowed to carry, say, a small pistol in their glove compartment, considering how disproportionately dangerous the job of a cab driver is. They've shot that idea down every time. But, as a slew of angry Uber drivers from Washington D.C. told us recently, it's entirely plausible that Uber has no idea whether or not a given driver is armed. Drivers we spoke to say that nobody has ever given their vehicles even a cursory inspection, and many drivers have never even met an Uber employee.

Read more from New York Observer

Uber driver charged with assault

An Uber driver was charged with indecent assault and battery against a passenger, police said, an incident that comes amid an intensifying debate over how to regulate the popular ridehailing service and after several similar assault allegations. According to an Uber spokeswoman, the driver recently passed a background check and the company is cooperating with the investigation being conducted by the Boston Police Sexual Assault Unit.

Read more from The Boston Globe

Men are using Uber's lost-and-found feature to harass female drivers

Laurie N. had only been driving for Uber for three days when she was confronted with a female driver's nightmare scenario: a drunk and upset male passenger showed up at her doorstep, pounding on her door. Even worse, she hadn't given him the address. He'd gotten in touch, and then located her, using a combination of Uber's lost-and-found system and Apple's Find My iPhone. Yet while the passenger was able to track her down, she was unable to do the same with anyone at Uber, leaving her feeling exposed and vulnerable.

Read more from Buzzfeed

Uber drivers are scrambling to make ends meet after latest fare cuts

Uber slashed fares in Washington D.C. two weeks ago in another attempt to get their app onto every phone they can and edge out "Big Taxi." If you only read the Washington Post, you'd think that D.C. is an Uber driver's paradise chock full of literal puppies, and that the fare cuts were a gift to Capitol Hill from the beneficent Travis Kalanick himself. Uber drivers are telling a very different story. 

Read more from New York Observer

Uber's nightmare scenario: How everything could go wrong for the world's hottest new company

Uber is the most valuable private tech company in the world right now. In January, the company worked out a $1.6 billion convertible-debt round with Goldman Sachs, bringing the total amount of money Uber has raised since its 2010 launch to more than $4 billion and valuing the company at more than $41 billion. But Uber isn't infallible. The company has competitors, it's working through regulatory battles, and it relies on independent contractors. So we decided to look at some of the nightmare scenarios Uber could potentially find itself facing in the future.

Read more from Business Insider

Uber responds to sexual assault allegations with planned panic button

After recent sexual assault allegations, ride-sharing company Uber is rolling out a panic button. The safety feature launched this week in India, but it's expected to roll out to other countries and cities in the coming months. The popular ride-sharing company has recently come under fire after drivers in places such as India and Los Angeles have been accused of raping passengers. 

Read more from CBS13 Sacramento