Student Post: The Guardian – Uber v TfL: court hears written English test will cost 33,000 drivers their jobs

Feed URL: https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/criticalthinking/2017/04/03/student-post-the-guardian-uber-v-tfl-court-hears-written-english-test-will-cost-33000-drivers-their-jobs/feed/?withoutcomments=1

Summary of article

• Demand for minicab drivers to pass language test to obtain license
• Test (writing short essay) would not apply to black cab drivers
• Would put nearly 1/3 of London minicab drivers out of business (Uber)
• Uber lawyers say 33,000 drivers would fail test or not be able to renew license
• TFL licenses 118,000 minicab drivers – they want all applicants for new or renewed private hire license to pass test by 31^st of September
• Uber supports verbal tests but not written exams
• 28% of those currently with a license would lose it over 3 years
• This was based on TFL’s assumption that 40% of people taking the test would fail
• Would unfairly penalize drivers who had sufficient English to pass driving test and read road signs but not pass a written exam
• The lack of complaints about Uber drivers’ written English meant the issue was “the dog that didn’t bark”
• TFL said it would be vital and ensure passenger safety and to raise standards
• TFL originally wanted to apply test only to people from countries where English is not the primary language but this was blocked in court as discriminatory.

 Blog post – comments – are the figures true or problematic?

In this article, numerous percentages and figures are used to confuse the readers. At first glance, any percentage higher than 20% and a number in the tens of thousands makes it sound serious and concerning. A prediction of ‘1/3 of London minicab driver’s’ being put out of business is a sweeping statement with no direct source or evidence mentioned. 28% of 118,000 is in fact 33,000 which Uber have stated correctly as their prediction of people who would fail the test or not be able to renew. While the Guardian have accurately reported that Uber say 33,000 minicab drivers would lose their jobs, no evidence is given to the reader to allow them to determine whether this number is likely to be accurate or not. It then goes on to mention TFL assumed 40% of people taking the test would fail. The varying figures and predictions makes it seem a fairly irrelevant article to have been published. Going on to say there was a ‘lack of complaints about Uber drivers’ written English’ means that there was not a concern in the first place, and so this article was based on no evidence for a need for change.