Slashdot Mirror
Uber Plans To Start Monitoring Their Drivers' Behavior (sfgate.com)
An anonymous Slashdot reader writes:
Uber "has developed a new technology that it plans on using to track driver behavior, specifically if drivers are traveling too fast or braking too harshly..." according to the San Francisco Chronicle, which writes that "Information about how a driver is performing will be shared with Uber, but will also be shared with the driver, along with safety tips on how they can improve their performance." Uber will roll this out as an update to their app, using existing smartphone functionality, and "in some cities Uber will also monitor whether or not Uber drivers are picking up their phones (either to text or even just to look at maps) during a ride using the phone's gyroscope."
Ride-sharing companies seem to be growing more and more powerful. One Florida county actually received a grant to offer free Uber rides to low-income workers, and to allow the county transit authority to arrange rides for those residents without a smartphone. Uber recently even became the "official designated driving app" for Mother's Against Drunk Driving, and published a graph suggesting Uber pickups correlate to a drop in drunk-driving arrests. And in other news, Uber rides have apparently even been used by a group of human traffickers to smuggle migrants from Central America into the United States.
Ride-sharing companies seem to be growing more and more powerful. One Florida county actually received a grant to offer free Uber rides to low-income workers, and to allow the county transit authority to arrange rides for those residents without a smartphone. Uber recently even became the "official designated driving app" for Mother's Against Drunk Driving, and published a graph suggesting Uber pickups correlate to a drop in drunk-driving arrests. And in other news, Uber rides have apparently even been used by a group of human traffickers to smuggle migrants from Central America into the United States.
If the driver turns suddenly into a side street to avoid some traffic problem he spotted later, that is good driving. If the driver goes over the speed limit because the highway is empty that is good driving. If the driver saves us from an accident with a sudden swerve because some idiot decides to cross multiple lanes of traffic at once, that too is good driving.
Gonna have to dispute that once. Speed limits don't exist just for the sake of other motorists. They are also set according to proximity to businesses and homes, local game activity, and the construction of the road itself. Just because there is no one in front of you don't make it okay to speed.