An Uber driver in the South Florida has been given a hefty ticket for violating the county ordinance. A cell phone footage showed that Carmen Echevarria, has got a $250 ticket from a Miami-Dade Police officer outside the Miami International Airport. The Uber driver ticketed for not being able to speak English correctly.
In the May 2016, Miami-Dade County has issued a memorandum with rules for the transportation network drivers, with one of the rules being "able to communicate in the English language."
Miami-Dade Department of Transportation Public Relations Officer, Karla Damian has issued a statement attempting to clarify the rule issued in memorandum.
A spokesman for the office of the Miami-Dade Mayor, Carlos Gimenez said that usually warnings are given instead of the citations.
“It does seem like she could communicate in the English language and take directions so it's unfortunate that a fine was issued. The county can work with this driver and with Uber to address this situation," said the mayor's communications director, Mike Hernandez.
In the last month, Florida Gov. Rick Scott has signed into law CS/HB 221, which overrides the local laws like the English requirement all across the state and also spells out the insurance and background check requirements for the ride-sharing companies.
Uber spokesman Javi Correoso sent a statement, which said that the company is "proud of the diversity of driver partners in the South Florida market." Correoso went on and said that until statewide regulations go into the effect on July 1, Uber asks all the driver partners in the state to follow all the applicable local laws and regulations.
The current language requirement for the drivers in Miami is not listed on the Uber website for the area. Correoso said that the memo law for the Miami-Dade County is "very vague and difficult to enforce" and also is not listed on their website because the drivers are asked to follow all the laws and regulations when they sign up.
Correoso said that all paperwork given to drivers on applications is in English. He also said that some fines for the Uber drivers have been paid in the past by the company, but could not confirm if they would pay for the Echevarria's fine.
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Mrudula Duddempudi.
