Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving • Hacker News Board

Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

#241

Post by deadbunny » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 1:21 PM UTC

metafunctor wrote: post #92

jhpaul wrote: post #65

Based 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.

Yeah, In my younger days I'd walk home 5 miles every Saturday from my local club, usually about 1.5-2 hours depending just how drunk I was. No one even thought of driving drunk, it's just something that you don't do.

Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

#242

Post by swozey » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 1:24 PM UTC

mjevans wrote: post #161

cmarschner wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Other than not going out, or not getting home, you didn't have many options. I don't understand. Of course you do! Just go out and don't drink...! When I grew up we would just take turns. A car seats 5, so you would be the driver every 5 times. That's not too bad... You could still have a beer or two, or just have a sober evening and the next day without a hang-over. Also, everyone knew the formula by which blood al…

I envy you for not being able to count your friends on a single hand.

And that as a grown adult his/her friends all live in the same general area so that one person can drop everyone off. That'd be absolutely ludicrous here in Austin. Everyone lives in the opposite 30 minute direction. I don't even ask where people live anymore because there's almost no chance they live within 30 minutes (10 miles) of me and I'm central so I'll probably never visit them.

The nights I can plan for a sober driver vs using a TNC are few and far between and usually on the weekend when one of my friends husbands or wives doesn't mind being the DD. This doesn't help during happy hour, etc at all.

Uber/Lyft/TNCs made going out far less anxiety ridden ("will I even be able to get a cab? When do the buses stop?")

Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

#243

Post by dx034 » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 1:28 PM UTC

giaour wrote: post #96

thinkloop wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The medallion is a huge cost, that alone might be enough - not to mention economies of scale, logistics expertise, data collection value, uber pool network effect, etc.

It's not like medallion cabs were the only game in town before Uber came along. Black car services have been popular as taxi alternatives for decades.

But were only an option if you are from the city. There's a considerable risk ordering any minicab service if you don't know your way around the city. Uber and Lyft change that by verifying drivers.

Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

#244

Post by khalladay » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 1:29 PM UTC

posguy wrote: post #140

mikekchar wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish the US and Canada would relax zoning restrictions. I've spent the last decade or so in Japan and the UK and it's just so much better. Admittedly, when you are young and going out clubbing then you want access to the big city. But for quieter/older people, just having access to a decent restaurant or pub within walking distance of your house is amazing. These days my wife and I might go out to the big city mayb…

Cities could easily dezone. Most areas have only had zoning for 60 to 80 years, prior to that there was just fire & building code constraining you. What was added by zoning was height restrictions, parking minimums, building type eg. single family detached, and lot/building size minimums. The value that zoning provides is to segregate and disenfranchise the bulk of the populace, while spreading them out during the Co…

Got a source for the Cold War stuff?

Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

#245

Post by dx034 » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 1:31 PM UTC

london888 wrote: post #149

At least in London people are saying these apps are adding to road traffic and congestion, so the extra pollution (by other traffic being stuck also) might be harming health and causing early deaths to balance out any lives saved by stopping drunk drivers.

But that's because in London, Uber competes against public transport. That's not the case for many US cities (New York is an exception).

Even though as a London resident, I've never heard that argument. Most Ubers are either new petrol or even hybrid. Black cabs are (mostly old) diesel.

Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

#246

Post by adrianN » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 1:31 PM UTC

pluma wrote: post #156

zer0tonin wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's harder to kill someone on a bike tho.

Directly? Yes. Indirectly? No. You're still posing a traffic hazard.

I guess if you're drunk driving at ~10mph the reduced reaction time isn't as important as when you're doing forty.

Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

#247

Post by moftz » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 1:33 PM UTC

pluma wrote: post #155

sAbakumoff wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

During my first visit to the USA, back in 2007, I was shocked at casual drinking and driving habits of my co-workers. They were fine with having 5-6 bottles of beer and a couple of shots and then drop me in the hotel before driving home. Fortunately they don't have to do that anymore.

I think this might be related to another complaint you often hear about: the drinking culture in general. Where I live in Europe it's normal to have designated drivers at parties and it's socially unacceptable to pressure them into drinking. If someone offers you a drink, "I'm driving" is a no-questions-asked way to turn it down (same goes for "I'm pregnant" or "I'm a recovering alcoholic"). That doesn't seem to be t…

It really depends on the circle of people that are at parties in the US. I've been the DD and have been at parties where there is at least one DD. I think there was a general consensus not to bother or pressure the guy DDing. All the fraternities and sororities would have a DD system running on fridays and saturday nights for their members as well, this is typical for a lot of universities but it only covers those members and their friends. I've also been at parties where I know there was no one DDing and I knew pretty much everyone drove there and didn't spend the night. Thankfully I lived in the college town with a decent bus system that got us around to most of the area for free so even if I couldn't get a ride, I could use the bus. I also purposely moved downtown just to have a ability to get almost anywhere without a car. The bus system was nice but getting between certain areas of town was hard depending on where you lived.

Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

#248

Post by dx034 » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 1:38 PM UTC

roystonvassey wrote: post #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.

It's important to have statistics instead of just opinions. Especially if you want to change future regulation.

Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

#249

Post by swah » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 1:39 PM UTC

jhpaul wrote: post #65

Based 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…

Also if you go out as a couple, its very boring if both can't have a glass of wine..

I'm thinking of selling my car just because of how well Uber works, and how expensive having a second car is (in Brazil at least).

Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

#250

Post by Nav_Panel » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 1:41 PM UTC

cafard wrote: post #225

jhpaul wrote: post #65

Based 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…

A ten to fifteen minute walk is less than a mile, unless heavy drinking somehow speeds one up. Where does that distance cost $20 in a cab? The NYC taxi & limousine website shows one mile in Manhattan as costing about $6.30--$5 for the fare, .80 for MTA and improvement surcharges, .50 for night surcharge. Edit: My mistake, misread the text.

NYC actually has far cheaper cabs than most US cities (who don't have Uber) because the market is extremely different. High demand and high supply 24/7 as opposed to surges. The pricing is also more tightly regulated iirc (haven't looked into the specifics).

When I took the train up to Albany, I wanted a cab to a coffee shop across the bridge. It was a half hour walk vs a 7min car ride. The cab was flat rate into the city so it would have cost $20+ just to take me across the bridge. This would've been a sub-$10 ride in NYC. I walked it, despite the rain.