What caused the drop in 2008? o_O
Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
101–110 of 383 posts
Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
Incorrect. Independent contractors cheerfully 'sharing' their vehicles have made 100% of the difference; Uber does not employ anyone to drive anywhere. The number of drunks driven home by Uber employees is ~0. Thanks independent contractors!
This is disingenuous at best. Before Uber, how many of those "independent contractors" were in the market? It's fair to criticize Uber's aggressive and shady practices, it's also fair to acknowledge the enormous changes that it has brought about to the transportation landscape.
Actually most taxi drivers are independent contractors, which makes it even clearer that Uber added something to the equation, and always makes it kind of funny how upset people are about Uber drivers not being full time employees.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/10/29/labor...
Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
#103What caused the drop in 2008? o_O
The financial crisis? You can see its effect in almost every graph.
Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
#104Based on personal experiences this isn't surprising. When I was in college in a small town in the late 00's, many friends and acquaintances would drive across town after heavy drinking. 10-15 minutes, straight roads, little traffic. Other than not going out, or not getting home, you didn't have many options. It was a hour long walk or a $20-40 cab ride, if you could get one. I was recently back in town for a wedding…
It has always amazed me how casually people drink and drive in some countries; the US especially springs to mind. Over here, drinking and driving is an extremely shameful and embarrassing thing to do. I would say it's on par with hitting a child. You just don't do it, not to save 20 bucks, or to save you from walking an hour.
Where are you from?
Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
#105Based on personal experiences this isn't surprising. When I was in college in a small town in the late 00's, many friends and acquaintances would drive across town after heavy drinking. 10-15 minutes, straight roads, little traffic. Other than not going out, or not getting home, you didn't have many options. It was a hour long walk or a $20-40 cab ride, if you could get one. I was recently back in town for a wedding…
It has always amazed me how casually people drink and drive in some countries; the US especially springs to mind. Over here, drinking and driving is an extremely shameful and embarrassing thing to do. I would say it's on par with hitting a child. You just don't do it, not to save 20 bucks, or to save you from walking an hour.
It isn't that, the cab rides are never just $20, and often there are no cabs at all. The USA just has crappy non car transportation options. And it isn't just an hour walk in many places, but a few hours walk on dark streets with no side walks. When I was living in the Deep South, I sometimes had to take people home 20+ miles out in the middle of nowhere.
Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
#106Based on personal experiences this isn't surprising. When I was in college in a small town in the late 00's, many friends and acquaintances would drive across town after heavy drinking. 10-15 minutes, straight roads, little traffic. Other than not going out, or not getting home, you didn't have many options. It was a hour long walk or a $20-40 cab ride, if you could get one. I was recently back in town for a wedding…
It has always amazed me how casually people drink and drive in some countries; the US especially springs to mind. Over here, drinking and driving is an extremely shameful and embarrassing thing to do. I would say it's on par with hitting a child. You just don't do it, not to save 20 bucks, or to save you from walking an hour.
> It has always amazed me how casually people drink and drive in some countries; the US especially springs to mind.
You should see Thailand. Many districts in Bangkok have their own dedicated pool of motorbike-taxis often located at specific points. The group of them outside my previous apartment frequently shared whiskey or beer with me after dropping me off.
Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
It has always amazed me how casually people drink and drive in some countries; the US especially springs to mind. Over here, drinking and driving is an extremely shameful and embarrassing thing to do. I would say it's on par with hitting a child. You just don't do it, not to save 20 bucks, or to save you from walking an hour.
>It has always amazed me how casually people drink and drive in some countries; the US especially springs to mind. Drinking and driving is still very taboo in the US. It's just that most areas of the country require an automobile to get around and most people have a car. One more thing, no one should be surprised that people drink and drive anywhere. People make all sorts of terrible decisions when they're intoxicate…
Not quite as taboo as many other countries [1], unfortunately.
You give two excuses to drink and drive. Both are indefensible.
The first excuse is "need a car to get around, have car". I live in a sparsely populated area as well, and everyone uses a car to get around. When we go out drinking, we plan ahead. The most common options are designated drivers, taxis, sleeping over, walking, or cycling.
The second excuse is "can't expect to make good decisions while drunk". That's a bit intellectually dishonest. The decision to think about how to get back later, knowing you're going to be drinking, is a bad decision made while entirely sober.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunk_driving_in_the_United_St...
Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
#108?! Does this even require stating, let alone an entire article? What am I missing?
When Uber launched in my city, that's the first thing I began using it for. Lack of other options meant that I either had to wrap up drinking sessions early or risk DUI.
Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not really. If the marginal convenience and cheaper price of ride sharing firms led more drunk people to use them then it would be ride sharing that did it. Also, since there have always been taxis, it would have been a big coincidence to observe the statistical difference at the same time as the rise of ride sharing. Obviously, "ride sharing" is a bad description, but so what? The word "cab" is left over from horse…
Taxis and modern ride sharing services may appear to 'offer the same product,' but they do it in different ways. The accessibility of Uber and Lyft via smart phone apps put them worlds ahead. Go back ten years. You need a taxi after leaving a social event. Your choice: bar, movie theater, wedding reception, whatever. Go stand outside in the wind/rain/snow/etc. on the corner of the intersection and hope that you aren'…
I just really, really wish that Uber and Lyft could manage to pull off this grand revolution in transportation without dumping their negative externalities all on us.
Up front, I will say that this is just my experience and just what I've witnessed, but, damn, something--in my mind--about the Uber and Lyft driver platforms encourages their drivers to crap all over the public commons just for a fare. Some things I've seen just in the past week here in Seattle:
- Stopping in an active bus lane to pick up a fare.
- Stopping in an active bus stop to pick up a fare, then backing up against traffic when a bus goes around them to make its stop.
- Illegal U-turns, left- or right-turns, and blowing past all manner of other traffic control devices ("no turn on red," "must turn left or right except bicycles," etc).
- "Pressing" (that is, creeping forward into a crosswalk) pedestrians at crosswalks to make a turn.
- Stopping in a lane of traffic and, this is my favorite, turning on hazard lights while waiting for a fare.
- Generally clogging up traffic around major hotspots while waiting for a fare because "surge pricing" or maybe just good business.
In every single case, if a taxi did that then someone could complain to the city and have their taxi license revoked. Meanwhile, it is not readily possible to determine which TNC a driver is driving for or their TNC license number so making a complaint is difficult and there are so many TNC drivers that it's like a moth equipped with a lightning bug trying to burn down a building.
Then again, maybe I'm just jaded.
Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
It has always amazed me how casually people drink and drive in some countries; the US especially springs to mind. Over here, drinking and driving is an extremely shameful and embarrassing thing to do. I would say it's on par with hitting a child. You just don't do it, not to save 20 bucks, or to save you from walking an hour.
It isn't that, the cab rides are never just $20, and often there are no cabs at all. The USA just has crappy non car transportation options. And it isn't just an hour walk in many places, but a few hours walk on dark streets with no side walks. When I was living in the Deep South, I sometimes had to take people home 20+ miles out in the middle of nowhere.
> 20+ miles out in the middle of nowhere
That's the reason there are no cabs and I don't blame cab drivers. They don't get paid to sit around 40 minutes to find a passenger. I'm surprised that finding an uber in one of those places is not difficult either.
Outside of the US, a lot of the population is very condensed (well the US is to some degree) making cabs and public transportation much more efficient/effective IMO.