Uber Driver Attacked By An Intoxicated Taco Bell Executive

A Taco Bell executive learned the hard way the legal consequences after attacking an Uber driver. These consequences include facing civil and criminal charges in a court of law. There is also the public humiliation and losing a job that goes with being a criminal. The lesson? You should not attack your ride share driver no matter how much of a jerk he is. Not even if he misses the route to your favorite bistro making you miss the early bird discount.

While the rider might not face consequences as life –disrupting as the Taco Bell executive, beating down on a ride share driver is considered an assault just like that on any other person walking on the street. A physical attack on a person is known as battery. Each state has varying laws defining the degree of battery just like many other laws differ from state to state on the same crimes. A number of Glendale lawyers can confer that some laws have harsher penalties than others and even a little misdemeanor can have a very harsh penalty depending on the state.

The Case of Bachman

A recent battery case involved T.J. Miller who is also known as HBO’s Silicon Valley Erlich Bachman. Miller was arrested after a car service driver reported that Miller has attacked him. Miller was arrested soon after the attack at the driver’s insistence. After an investigation by the police Miller was found to have a misdemeanor case to answer, arrested and released.

Miller’s situation differed from that of the Taco Bell executive because the law enforcement officers had discretion on how to handle the case. Miller was only guilty of causing annoyance, and some few bruises and bumps. A more serious physical attack resulting in serious injuries to the driver would have had more serious legal consequences.

Are there special laws for taxi/bus drivers?

In some states an attack on a taxi or bus driver has heavier consequences than assault and battery charges depending on the situation. An attacker was charged with hate crimes in addition to the battery charges because he assaulted the driver’s ethnicity during the attack. The penalties imposed were severe than those in a straightforward assault and battery case.

In some jurisdictions there are special laws that cover attacking a public transport, taxi or bus driver which makes the penalties heavier than those in standard assault case. However, Rideshare drivers may not be covered by these laws because ride sharing is still a new thing in the eyes of the law.