SACRAMENTO.- On Thursday, the California Senate passed a bill that will make ride-sharing services, such as UBER, Sidecar, and Lyft, subject to extensive new regulations. The day before, another bill that would saddle ride-sharing services with tougher insurance requirements, was amended and ordered to a third reading, and is also likely to pass.

Executives for ridesharing services stated that the new regulations are hefty enough to potentially put an end to the industry in California. Proponents of the bills, including insurance companies, taxi lobbies, and limo associations, say that it will level the playing field and make consumers safer.

Less than 24 hours after voting in favor of the bill, California State from San Diego Senator Ben Hueso was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. Thankfully, nobody was hurt after Ben Hueso drove down the street the wrong way in Sacramento at around 2:24 in the morning and was caught by a Highway Patrol Officer. He was booked into county jail after his blood alcohol content was measured above .08 – the legal limit in California. He is scheduled for a hearing on Monday.

When it comes to safety in San Diego, for those that want to go out for drinks at night, the trolley service stops running shortly after midnight, and taxi’s are almost a non-option for most people because of how expensive they are. Ridesharing services like UBER are an excellent option for people who want to go out, without having to rely on a designated driver. UBER has even teamed up with Mothers Against Driving (MADD), to prevent drunk driving throughout the United States.

In Philadelphia, the number of DUI’s per month decreased by an average of 12 percent when ride-sharing services came on-line in the city. In Seattle and Pennsylvania, the rates of DUI arrests have fallen by 10 percent. UBER statistics show that ride requests spike Friday through Sunday at night. UBER just launched in Tijuana this month, and it will be interesting to see if levels of drunk driving related arrests drop in that city as well.

Given the above, this is why the paradox of a politician voting in tougher restrictions for potentially life-saving ride-sharing services, and then getting busted for driving drunk 24 hours later is almost political justice. Or, at the very least, a marketing campaigners dream come true. Just hours after the news broke, Twitter users remarked on the irony with hashtag #HuesoNeedsUber.

The bill amended and voted on by the State Senate on Wednesday would require ridesharing companies to provide $1 million dollars in commercial service coverage for their drivers, regardless of whether the driver is actually carrying a passenger or not. Currently, drivers rely on their personal insurance coverage until a passenger gets into their vehicle. According to an Uber spokesman, the proposed mandate would implement heftier requirements than the state requirements for taxi drivers and any car on the road when they are not even doing any business. The bill that passed on Thursday was a little less contentious and would require ride-sharing services obtain fingerprint reports for drivers, and monitor their driving records with the Department of Motor Vehicle’s monitoring service. Many of these measures had already been in place by ride-sharing services prior to the bill’s introduction.

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