Violence erupts in France during taxi driver strike against Uber
Taxi drivers staged violent protests in France today over the car-service Uber. The car-service is in more than 300 cities and 58 countries. But cabbies say the $50-billion company is killing their business.
Tires on fire, backed up traffic. Furious taxi drivers turned burning tires into barricades, shutting down highways and blocking access to airports.
Cars were overturned, lacing the streets with broken glass. Riot police raced in, using tear gas to stop the protest.
It was among the most violent demonstrations against Uber yet.
Uber has upended Europe's heavily regulated taxi industry. In recent months there have been protests in Italy, Germany and Spain--where the government has banned the service.
Britain doesn't want Uber either.
The main reason for the backlash is much the same across Europe. Cab drivers, like London's black cabbies, say Uber doesn't have to adhere to the same strict regulations that they do. It's simply not a level playing field.
Uber's fares tend to be cheaper. And conventional taxi drivers in Europe sometimes pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for an operating license.
Steve Murray told CBS News it took him four years to earn his.
"They're not trained, they don't have to do any training at all. All they use is the Google App as a satellite navigation system and it tells them what the fare is," he said about Uber.
It's also cutting into Murray's business.
"Nicking loads of it," he said.
Today's protests were also aimed at the French government to do more to ban the ride-sharing service. But Uber told CBS News it has no intention of stopping and intends to expand further.
