Furthermore, I think a lot of people have a spare car that they kept when they bought a newer one -

One of the points we often try to make at Techdirt is that the effects of disruptive technologies are going to be felt far beyond the entertainment and publishing industries they are not limited to the online world. The internet creates abundance of information, but it also creates a push towards decentralization in all things, and that's one of the big ways it intersects with the physical: although you can't download a car, you can create whole new systems for buying, selling, renting, reviewing and maintaining cars, and those systems will replace established but less-efficient ones.
Nobody review alexandra hotel london is immune not even the last disruptor. Companies like Zipcar changed the game with their car-sharing services, review alexandra hotel london but they are already facing new challengers. RelayRides , launching nationally this week, has a model that takes things one step further :
While those companies own fleets of cars, RelayRides is entirely peer-to-peer if you have a car, then you can make it available for rental when you're not using it. RelayRides says the average car owner makes $250 a month from the program.
Since it takes advantage of the cars already on the road, founder and chief community officer Shelby Clark argues that peer-to-peer carsharing can have a big impact after all, a fleet-based company couldn't simply declare review alexandra hotel london one day that it's launching nationally.
That's especially true in non-urban areas. For example, Zipcar doesn't have any cars available in the Los Angeles suburb review alexandra hotel london where I grew up, and it's hard to imagine that establishing a fleet there would make economic sense anytime soon.
How big and how successful this approach will become remains to be seen, but it's a creative idea that makes a clear point: disruption can happen anywhere, to anyone. As the entertainment industry review alexandra hotel london continues to fight progress, experts from every side of the debate love to make profound-sounding statements about how the internet has changed our media consumption habits, but that's old news. From mobile-based taxi limo services to the coming era of 3D printers review alexandra hotel london and things like the Pirate Bay's Physibles site , digital technologies are disrupting a lot of things, not just media. Governments and industries cannot continue getting bogged down in tiresome debates about saving obsolete business models not if they want to have any hope of embracing the opportunities, and solving the potential problems, of a fast-approaching future.
Huh? Honestly, I don't see this catching on in a big way. Even for companies like Zipcar that depend partly on an honor system, user integrity is a problem. I don't have faith that enough car owners review alexandra hotel london would maintain their vehicles to a standard most us are accustomed to while renting a vehicle.
I can't even imagine the insurance liabilities involved review alexandra hotel london here. Does RelayRides provide liability as a part of their service? What about collision on the part of the renter? I don't think I'll be offering my car for rent to basically anonymous renters anytime soon.
Re: Re: It's kinda weird, while I was initially (and still am) skeptical of the OP, it seems like the moment obvious trolls are against it, it naturally wants to make me less skeptical. There is a part of my brain that automatically says, Techdirt trolls are generally wrong and so if they say something chances are I should more closely consider the opposite.
I've been considering selling it and sharing my wife's vehicle, but now I might consider something like this. The only problem is, I don't want to destroy the vehicle. If I still had my previous commuter (an older "beater" car), I wouldn't have any qualms review alexandra hotel london though.
Furthermore, I think a lot of people have a spare car that they kept when they bought a newer one - or have a spare truck they only use for utility. I think this program offers an interesting option for those people to monetize and otherwise make those vehicles useful instead of rotting int he driveway/garage.
Re: Re: It's a non-starter. Almost every normal car insurance policy for private use includes language regarding acceptable uses, including commercial use and such. You cannot simply "turn off" your insurance police for the time the car is on a rental. Basically, it's insured at all times, and your insurance company retains primary liability. It's very hard to get out of it. Further, while vicarious liability has been run off federally for rental cars, it's not clear that a private car "rented out" would get the same free pass. That could make you, as the car owner, personally liable.
It also doesn't address issues such as car licensing. In many places, cars used for commercial purposes (such as rental) must be plated differently or with a different class of license plate. How would that line up?
There is so much here to deal with, in all sorts of angles, and way too many moving parts to get right. It's a lawsuit looking for a place to happen, when some unlicensed driver who "borrowed" your car plows into a crowd and kills a few people, and suddenly you are left on the hook - with your insurance company dumping you for a non-covered commercial rental business, and potentially the "rental company" insurance not covering a car that isn't registered to the company or properly registered for that type of use.
Re: Re: Actually, what is 3 clicks away is a vague FAQ style answer that says little. Can you name the insurance carrier? Can you tell me where the insurance is good, and where it is not? Can you assure me that MY insurance company isn't going to be on the hook, perhaps with a written statement from their carrier?
Re: Re: Re: And I've worked long enough in the insurance industry review alexandra hotel london to know that you're making review alexandra hotel london a really big deal out of something that isn't necessarily that complicated. I've worked with plenty of self-insurance pools that cover all sorts of non-traditional insurance situations such as this. You silly people dealing with commercial (for-profit) insurance policies always have make everything so crazy-complicated.
Insurance policies can be written to cover any eventuality review alexandra hotel london - sure, maybe there will be a catastrophic claim, and RelayRides will incur a large loss. But if such a situation occurs, their insurance rates will likely increase and they'll have to find a way to cover them.
Now, as for vehicle licensing, I'm not well versed in that. Considering RelayRides is working directly with GM, I'm guessing they're not just some fly-by-night group by college kids who threw this idea out there overnight.
Oh, and I didn't mention the tax liability as well. Will your income get 1099'ed? Will it move you into a new tax bracket? As a renter, will you be required to collect and submit state sales taxes? What about fuel taxes? If you loan out your pickup and it's used to haul cargo for hire, you could run into issues there as well - such as is the vehicle licensed and insured for commercial use (delivery)?
It clearly indicates that the vehicle cannot be used for commercial services and it clearly states that you are responsible for your own taxes: "RelayRides review alexandra hotel london will need certain information from you to ensure we can report income paid to you as required by law."
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: It doesn't matter if the terms say that they cannot use it for commercial purposes, because (a) as a rental, it's already a commercial transaction, and (b) what is stopping them?
another idea Well, that's another business idea that I couldn't get going before other people thought of the same thing and find traction. It's crazy, review alexandra hotel london even the general layout of the web site is similar to what I was planning.. in 2009.
Now: The challenge to the Anonymous Coward: Explain to us poor Techdirtbags why an individual cannot rent their car to an individual review alexandra hotel london under these same (or similar) Terms of Use under current law [Citations Needed (of course)]. :)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: It doesn't matter if the terms say that they cannot use it for commercial purposes, because (a) as a rental, it's already a commercial transaction, and (b) what is stopping them?
Actual Scarcities (To Richard, #20). I am not particularly impressed by the fact of this automobile-share business being running in a small way. It's like these apartment-share firms-- the business is running on a limited supply of customers who have not thought through the possible consequences, and who will drop out when they get burned. In the case of an apartment, that means burglary and identity theft by a guest, meth-cooking, etc.-- in short the usual occupational hazards of being an inn-keeper. In the case of rental automobiles, it means the statistically infrequent case of a bad crash, with one or more people seriously injured, and plaintiff lawyers creatively trying to find someone who can be sued ("deep pockets").
You don't generally need a national service to provide an essentially local product. When someone does a national start-up under those conditions, I always wonder whether he expects to make money from his ostensible customers-- or from an IPO. Things like chain restaurants grow organically, starting with one restaurant, and gradually adding more locations, review alexandra hotel london generally on the principle of local management buying in through review alexandra hotel london the franchise system. MickeyD's does not say, "everyone take turns using the griddle and the fryer to cook your own lunch." They hire kitchen and counter help instead, and they are experimenting with robots.
Automobiles per se are not a scarcity-- you can always get a "beater" for a couple of thousand dollars, and at that level, the capital cost of owning the automobile, the foregone interest if you had kept the money in the bank instead, is less than than the price of gasoline and the wear and tear on the automobile itself.
Don't forget that downtown parking space is usually fairly valuable. Once you begin to have skyscrapers, they tend to outrun the available space for parking. It is generally easier and cheaper to build an elevator leading to more office space than it is to build ramps leading to sub-basement parking. review alexandra hotel london Sinc