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Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving

economist.com

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

#301

Post by amyjess »

techsupporter wrote: post #109
brianleb wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> 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).

I had a Lyft driver who tried to make an illegal U-turn while I was in the car with him.

Google Maps was telling him to go to the next light and make a U-turn. He insisted on making a U-turn at the light before. I saw the no U-turn sign, which explained why Google wanted him to go to the next light.

I repeatedly pointed out the no U-turn sign to him and told him again and again that it was illegal for him to make a U-turn there. I kept telling him over and over to get out of the left turn lane and go straight till the next light. He finally got out of the left turn lane after I raised my voice multiple times. If he hadn't gotten out of the left turn lane right then, my next step would have been to say "if you make an illegal U-turn, I will call the police on you right here".

After he got out of the lane, he was huffing and puffing for the rest of the ride. Fortunately, the ride wasn't much longer, but he was furious. I've never seen someone huff and puff like that outside of a cartoon.

He was also pretty unprofessional throughout the whole ride (example: he had a really tiny car, I'm a very large person, and when he picked me up he tried to make me ride in the backseat that I physically wouldn't be able to fit into... I had to tell him I would cancel the ride unless he unlocked the front door), so I didn't feel guilty whatsoever when I rated him 1 star and flagged him for navigation, friendliness, and safety.

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

#302

Post by mullen »

MrFantastic wrote: post #288
toomanybeersies wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree with that number. You're saying that 1 in 100,000 people don't get home safely while drink driving. That's 10 times lower than the yearly death rate from simply driving. And 1/3 road deaths are caused by drink driving.

My number is wrong, I just made it up. I think that actually number is more like 99.95% for a person with a .08. My point is that if you didn't care about moral hazard, the odds are overwhelming that you will make it home safe even if you drive drunk. I'm not condoning, just explaining drunk driving logic. That 1/3 road deaths is artificially inflated because if you had 1 drink and well under the legal limit it still…

> I think that actually number is more like 99.95% for a person with a .08.

But it isn't the .08 drunk drivers killing people, it is the .16+ BAC drunk drivers killing people.

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

#303

Post by marcosdumay »

qyv wrote: post #130
jnordwick wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And like you know, all the other things he listed: > it's easy to call one from a crowded/loud place, you know how much it will cost, they don't use cash, they know where you are, and you don't have to give directions. p.s., why do people like you want to hate on ride sharing services so much? Is it just that nothing can ever be good enough in your mind?

> And like you know, all the other things he listed: >> it's easy to call one from a crowded/loud place, you know how much it will cost, they don't use cash, they know where you are, and you don't have to give directions. Subjective advantages which are not exclusive nor intrinsic to ride sharing services. They can be replicated by anyone in the industry if they are deemed as valuable to their business. I never denie…

You know, we have a few confounding variables and a clear effect. Where does your certainty that it's price, and not another variable that it comes from?

(Yes, I acknowledge you have a problem with the predatory pricing. I understand you. Was it not against taxis, I'd have a problem too, it's just that I hate taxis more than I hate powerful companies messing with small people. Yet, that does not make it any clear that the change is mostly due to prices.)

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

#304

Post by dmoy »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #276
Broken_Hippo wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to think the same - I've lived in plenty of places with no public transportation. No choice, I'd say, bemoaning the lack of decent public transport. But then I was in a similar situation off in a small town in Norway. I was at a 80th birthday party in a small town. Most of the attendees were drunk. Everyone already knew someone to take them home, and organized themselves accordingly, some waiting a bit for the…

Thinking? I'm not thinking it is ok! No no, I'm just saying why people are idiotic enough to do this. The BAC level now for Utah is .05. It isn't like all of the US states are slouching. Of course, Utah is different from the deep south.

It's actually still .08, not .05 (yet). It will be in about 1.75 years from now if there's no successful repeal before then. Given the LDS majority in the state, good chance it will stand in some form.

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

#305

Post by kodablah »

amyjess wrote: post #283
alkonaut wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe the fact that there are no buses and cabs at night is because people are driving home from bars anyway? Here's the thing: it's not that we have great transportation, what we don't have is bars and restaurants pop up in some random spot next to a road, with a big parking lot in front. If you build a restaurant like that, you kind of already made clear that it's a restaurant for people in cars.

Most bars in the suburban US don't stand alone; they tend to be accompanied by other restaurants and strip centers. I'll post a few Street View links for the northern suburbs of Dallas: https://goo.gl/maps/AfQX2VDpYaA2 - The Draft House, Far North Dallas. Note the strip center that contains, among others, a sushi/Thai food place, a pizzeria, and a food mart. (as a side note: I used to go to the Draft House regularly…

Having frequented all of those places sans Lonestar, I can attest to their being plenty of parking in most cases (draft house a bit scary late w/ the clientele, and the hub you may have to park a bit off to the side but not too bad). Sadly, by those links you have described the problem: distances. Even with Uber's cheap cost, it is still prohibitive to hail one for a 20 min drive. HH for most companies in these areas include coworkers who may live 40+ miles from each other.

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

#306

Post by marcosdumay »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #20
ardit33 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bitter/hating much? I know Uber is not liked, but the fact that they have done a great job at disturbing the market in a great way. (Lyft as well, but they are still a minority player) Having have to deal with NYC cabs often, when they will lock the doors and ask where you are going before letting you in, Uber is a great improvement overall. Also, a NYC taxi medallion would cost 500k to almost 750k (that's like a mor…

But aren't they just disrupting it temporarily? My understanding is that VC funding is propping up those low fares. I guess it is good until that runs out though.

That half of the cost due to medallions isn't temporary. Whatever was there due to supply restrictions isn't temporary either.

Uber still subsidizes the price beyond rents and supply restrictions. That part is temporary.

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

#307

Post by Kiro »

Kiro wrote: post #131
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Still no excuse.

People downvoting me obviously haven't had anyone close killed by a drunk driver. Disgusting. Simple solution if you can't get home without driving: don't drink.

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

#308

Post by [deleted] »

rugffgbv wrote: post #210
pluma wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that's also something that's different in the US: individualism. I wouldn't normally call e.g. Germany a "collectivist" society but in comparison to the attitudes I frequently hear about from Americans (especially in politics) Germans apparently genuinely care more about their fellow citizens. Not being as likely to kill someone else is the entire point. Heck, drunk cycling is only slightly better than drunk…

>Heck, drunk cycling is only slightly better than drunk driving because you're less likely to run someone over (but might still cause an accident when a driver has to do something dangerous to avoid you). Drunk cyclists killed 1 person between 2007-2011 in Poland. Drunk pedestrians killed 3 persons. http://ibikekrakow.com/2012/03/28/ile-osob-zabili-pijani-row... Drunk drivers killed hundreds. 50% of people caught for…

[deleted]

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

#309

Post by seanmcdirmid »

amyjess wrote: post #283
alkonaut wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe the fact that there are no buses and cabs at night is because people are driving home from bars anyway? Here's the thing: it's not that we have great transportation, what we don't have is bars and restaurants pop up in some random spot next to a road, with a big parking lot in front. If you build a restaurant like that, you kind of already made clear that it's a restaurant for people in cars.

Most bars in the suburban US don't stand alone; they tend to be accompanied by other restaurants and strip centers. I'll post a few Street View links for the northern suburbs of Dallas: https://goo.gl/maps/AfQX2VDpYaA2 - The Draft House, Far North Dallas. Note the strip center that contains, among others, a sushi/Thai food place, a pizzeria, and a food mart. (as a side note: I used to go to the Draft House regularly…

> Most bars in the suburban US don't stand alone

I don't know if that is really true. Or to say, what is your definition of a suburb?

I've seen plenty of bars out in the middle of nowhere, especially in small towns surrounded by rural communities.

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