Too Drunk To Drive, And Also To Uber?
If you’re drunk and don’t want to drive you call for an Uber – but they may deem you too drunk to ride now as well, which might be a problem.
By nowproducerdave on June 11, 2018
Uber is developing some tech to see if you’re too drunk to ride. Yes, too drunk to Uber. Uber, the ride-hailing service made to help get people home if they’ve had too much to drink may be refusing to let you ride if you’ve had too much to drink. Whaaa? Read on.
Long story short, Uber wants to patent technology that can sort of give users a “sobriety test” before their ride shows up. The app will ask you a series of questions, and based on your answers will determine how much you’ve had to drink. If the app deems you too drunk, the driver responding to your call can then refuse the ride, if they choose. The way it works is a little more complex. It reads a lot of different information, like how fast you’re walking and typing. If you’re walking a varying speeds, typing slowly, making a lot of typos, and it’s after midnight on the weekend, the app will assume your drunk.
An Uber driver is all for this new tech. Uber drivers have, in the past, been attacked by drunk passengers, and have had bad messes in the back of their cars. Some drivers have even been accused of sexual assaults by drunk passengers. Uber driver Dave Carpenter says he’s learned some of the signs to look for that someone is drunk even before they get to the car. “If someone like a bartender or a friend walks somebody up to a car, that’s a red flag you need to look at.” He continued “We’re responsible for their well-being. You don’t know if they were drugged, had alcohol poisoning, have a medical condition or a heart attack. We’re not trained for all that.”
The driver has the option to reject the ride if they feel like they will have a bad experience. Another driver who is more trained for how to handle certain situations will then be able to pick up that ride. The tech promises to make things better for the drivers, and I suppose that the idea will also make a better experience for those riding in an Uber. That is – unless nobody responds to your call for a ride at all… Check out some more info here.
