So do trains and trams
Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
351–360 of 383 posts
Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
#352Based 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.
> Over here, drinking and driving is an extremely shameful and embarrassing thing to do.
Over here (Hungary), drinking and driving is basically illegal. As in 0mg, zip. It makes things a lot simpler IMO.
Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
#353Earlier quoted context omitted.
Go to Idaho or Montana then, you'd be surprised what people will work for when there are no alternatives.
I think the issue is I and my peers never really received any education about how to make it in the world (outside of simply "go to college"). If you are working a minimum wage or low paying job you really have two jobs the second being constantly searching for and applying to better opportunities. Also I suspect another issue is the cliffs for government benefits. If you work between 45 - 60 hours a week for $12 - $…
Yep, wages don't amount to everything. I don't know how Walmart is nowadays, but a few years ago I had a few friends working at one being stiffed an hour or two underneath the weekly "full time" amount so they didn't need to keep up with certain benefits. And making them work unpaid overtime and bullying them into not reporting it or clocking in.
People bring up legal recourse for these situations, but realistically, it's very scary when you're in that scenario and have to actually deal with getting underpaid or not getting paid for a while but having your dignity.
About the tipped wages mentioned a couple comments up, from my experience working delivery, that's a great way to get yourself fired. Because I guarantee you all the employees won't go in together on saying it, you're basically telling the management "I don't get tipped as much as everyone else" which is great grounds for poor performance, it's a catch-22.
Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
#354A separate discussion that I'd like to have is – why do people drink so much, to the point of drunkenness? Why is this so common? Has this always been the case? Will this change?
> why do people drink so much, to the point of drunkenness? Many reasons. To the point of darkness because it's a thin line between a light buzz and over-the-top-cannot-even-say-my-name > Why is this so common? human nature. Not only human, actually, monkeys drunk on fermented fruit, etc [1] > Has this always been the case? Yes > Will this change? No. [1] http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2011/..…
Elephants too. They've been known to raid villages and steal booze. [1]
[1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2229334/Fifty-drunke...
Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
#355Earlier quoted context omitted.
That was one of those things my Norwegian spouse made sure I knew beforehand. It is .02 or something like that, and I believe it is measured slightly differently. He's also said that I can get penalized - through loss of license and other means - just by being a sober passenger with a drunk driver. It benefits me to make sure the other person is sober.
This makes me very uneasy. If their field equipment is anything like SCRAM bracelets (same basic technology as a Breathalyzer) they're cutting all sorts of corners (demanding precise readings out of sensors that are running well outside their recommended operating environment with less calibration than recommended) and throwing false positives left and right. Drunk driving penalties are too stiff to play fast and loo…
In Australia, we're breathalyzed and if it's positive we go back to the police station/mobile testing unit for a blood test, so the breathalyzer is really only an early indicator.
Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
#356...but what about cars left on the parking lot by the drunk ppl? a lot of ppl might choose to drink&drive because they have to go back & get their cars again... In South Korea they have 'substitute driver service' that drives customer's car (obviously, with customer in it) back to the customer's home. I'm sure this can be done logistically (have a large bus carry around drivers, etc.)
> ...but what about cars left on the parking lot by the drunk ppl? 1. This may sound obvious but maybe don't drive yourself if you're not going to be able to drive back. Ask a friend to take you or plan to pay for both ways. 2. Plan for the extra time the following day to pick your car up where you left it. 3. Drive with someone who can drive the car (and you) back. I'm surprised you think this is a difficult problem…
In many cities like Los Angeles public transportation is either non-existant or extremely poor, the most common scenario is that someone goes to work and is invited to go have a drink with the office gang after hours. It's not realistic for them to drive an hour home in rush hour traffic and then take Uber back to meet everyone as they'll already be gone. Instead they go have a drink, start thinking, "Geez, I probably should get Uber but then I'm going to have to get Uber in the morning to get to work and then I have to get my car from the parking lot at the bar. I guess I'm not really that drunk I can probably make it home okay."
Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
#357No question ride-hailing has a net plus impact on reducing drunk driving. Though, it only works for the most fortunate of us (1) who live in urban areas (2). Also, let's not forget that the most important driver to prevent drunk driving in the United States, is the severity (or extremism) of DUI laws. As a matter of fact, punishments for such infractions are so extreme that they achieve deterrence not by fear of puni…
See Fighting MADD [1]
Don't be put off by the site's domain. There are plenty of other articles that say the same exact thing. In fact, Wikipedia contains several links to articles critical of MADD's mission and fundraising [2]
[1] http://www.drunkard.com/08_02_fighting_madd/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothers_Against_Drunk_Driving
Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
#358Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm curious when self-driving cars become common place how the law will react to it. It's my assumption that the law will still require a driver to be sober in the event that manual control is needed, though I suppose if the car is driving itself perfectly fine police would have no reasonable grounds to pull anyone over and discover they're drunk in the first place.
> though I suppose if the car is driving itself perfectly fine police would have no reasonable grounds to pull anyone over and discover they're drunk in the first place. I can't speak for America, but here (Australia) I'd guess the vast majority of drunk driving tickets are from booze busses. I can't even remember the last time I saw somebody pulled over and breathalysed.
This may be the case in Melbourne - in Sydney cops aggressively breath test anyone who looks "suspect" (eg. P plates, any visible modifications, male w/ long hair, athletic wear) or who is "the right person at the right time" (say, if you're driving a utility around 4-5pm - many tradeworkers have a beer or two after work before going home).
Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
#359Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've been taken advantage of by Uber drivers while drunk. That said, when I woke up the next day^Wmonth and saw the charges and the loop-de-loops they took to get me home, I complained and Uber refunded me the whole fare, which I didn't even ask for. If this was a cab and even with a credit card charge (forget about cash) I would have just written it off.
Well if you didn't end up paying for it then they didn't really take advantage. They just attempted to and were stopped by the feedback loop ride sharing systems offer.
Yes, that's the parent poster's point.
Re: Ride-hailing apps may help to curb drunk driving
#360Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's like saying Hacker News can't be considered a nice place to discuss things, until they employ everyone who contributes to the discussion.
If someone starts posting threats or illegal material as discussion comments, wouldn't Hacker News be responsible for deleting it or else they would face penalties? Uber argues they shouldn't face penalties when an Uber driver does something illegal since they are "independent contractors".
Not really, under U.S. law HN or any other web forum is only responsible for deleting libelous or infringing comments after being notified: Digital Harbor, DCMA, etc.
The analogous situation for Uber would be "allowing a driver to continue using the platform after being notified of illegal on-the-job activity."