Uber Lowers Drunk Driving Arrests In San Francisco Dramatically

schwit1 writes: According to crime statistics from the San Francisco Police Department there were only two drunken driving arrests last New Year's Eve in San Francisco, the lowest since 2009. This news comes on the heels of a new study revealing that the introduction of UberX reduces drunk driving deaths across California. Temple University's Brad Greenwood and Sunil Wattal published a paper that shows cheap taxi-like options make it easier for people to make the safer decision to call for a ride rather than driving home themselves.

Comments

Re:Uber = Public subsidized

[ThatsMyNick]

Not this again. Uber provides insurance, with the same benefits as the commercial insurance. It is a little bit controversial, as Uber insurance is valid only when the driver's Uber app is running and they are "on duty". The rest of the time drivers will have to rely on their own insurance, which may deny any claims, because the car had been used for commercial reasons (even if it was not at the time of accident or the event that leads to the claim).

This is not a public subsidy at all.

Re:Uber = Public subsidized

[Rei]

Not only is Uber's "on duty" insurance not available when a person isn't "on duty", but the driver still needs personal auto insurance. Uber encourages its drivers to only pay for regular personal insurance, and the insurance companies say that this is a violation of their policy terms. Only recently have insurance companies started offering products to fill in the gaps. They, of course, come with extra premiums.

And of course, sometimes one wonders whether Uber should refer to their "insurance policy" in quotation marks.