LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Employees of licensed car service companies in Las Vegas are voicing their concerns over the growing number people driving tourists and locals around town without any insurance or proper licensing.
“You can drive up and down the Strip on a Friday night and literally just point out probably 80 to 100 illegal operators that are out there,” said one driver.
Channel 13 has learned that it’s not only happening on the Strip. It’s also taking place at the airport, in downtown Las Vegas and in other pockets of the city.
The so-called fake drivers are offering up trips for cash and potentially putting people’s safety at risk.
“It's going to be a point where someone is going to get hurt if we don’t do something about it,” another driver said.
At a Nevada Transportation Authority meeting on Thursday morning, car service company owners spoke out about the growing problem they say has exploded in the past four years.
“They’re running around out there doing their own thing, watching, switching cars and making sure that they’re not caught,” one of the drivers said.
The operations are impacting licensed companies, including popular rideshare platforms like Uber and Lyft.
“Thousands of dollars a day that we’re losing, not just my company, but other companies,” said Carlos Camacho, who owns a car service company in Las Vegas.
The trend has also caught the attention of airport officials at Harry Reid International Airport, prompting them to post warning signs in the parking garage.
A public awareness campaign at the Las Vegas airport warns tourists and locals not to accept rides from fake drivers:
“These cars come through trying to pick passengers up saying they have cash, that they can go ahead and give them a ride,” said Joseph Rajchel, a spokesperson for Harry Reid International Airport.
The impostors often operate in close proximity to the designated pickup areas, capitalizing on the confusion and rush of passengers trying to get to their next destination.
“When it does get busier, it might be more tempting for people to want to try to accept that kind of ride,” Rajchel said.
However, taking that type of ride eliminates the safety features other platforms and services provide, like driver and vehicle identification and real-time tracking.
“That's scary. If anybody pretends to be an Uber driver, we are definitely not getting in the car with them,” said Divyesh Shah, who was visiting Las Vegas.
Now, drivers are asking the Nevada Transportation Authority to do something about it.
“No one else is going to take this on, if you don’t,” one driver said.
Drivers are also calling on the NTA to create an app or a notification system where they can report the illegal drivers when they see them.
The NTA acknowledged the gravity of the situation and sent Channel 13 a statement that reads:
“Unlicensed passenger transportation providers have always been a problem, even prior to the rideshare companies entering the market. Certainly, with common motor vehicles (not easily identifiable as a taxi or limousine) now being used for passenger transportation, it increases the opportunities for bad actors in this arena. Both the Nevada Transportation Authority and the Taxicab Authority conduct enforcement activities that target unlicensed passenger transportation by investigating reports and through proactive sting operations that target drivers working off-app soliciting cash rides.”
