Background checks are a canard.  How do the cab companies check the background of someone from Uzbekistan?  They can&#x27;t, they can only go back as far as that person has been in the country, which isn&#x27;t very long judging by their mastery of English.<p>U&#x2F;L do carry insurance for their drivers when they&#x27;re driving a passenger, and it&#x27;s probably more than the regular cab companies carry (which is why SF Yellow cab is going bankrupt: they weren&#x27;t insured for enough for one of their incompetent drivers, according to the article).  Also, U&#x2F;L have deeper pockets than any local cab company&#x2F;coop, so civil suits will net higher payouts too if it came to that.<p>As for health insurance, from what I&#x27;ve read a lot of cab drivers aren&#x27;t full-time employees either, so they also don&#x27;t get health insurance, or benefits.