Your Uber Driver: Safer (or Less Safe) than Average?

After 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.

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Perhaps because it’s a new and novel business model, drivers for rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft have come in for considerable scrutiny. Who are these people? Are they safe, responsible, reliable? Am I putting my life at risk when I punch up an Uber ride?

There’s even a website, WhosDrivingYou.org, that tracks rideshare drivers’ accidents and crimes. Its underlying premise:

Uber’s process for onboarding drivers is dangerously negligent. Neither Uber nor Lyft uses fingerprints or law enforcement to background-check their drivers. And Uber doesn’t even bother to meet with drivers in person before allowing them to ferry passengers. The result is a series of incidents involving “ridesharing” passengers being harmed and criminal offenders behind the wheel.

Among the worrisome headlines cited by the site:

Pedestrian Struck By An Uber Driver in Connecticut Pronounced Dead at Hospital
Uber and Uber Driver Sued for Negligence After Collision Kills Passenger in Miami
Woman Dies After Being Run Over by the Rear Wheel of an Uber Vehicle in Columbus, OH
Manhattan Uber Driver Strikes and Kills Pedestrian
Seven-Year-Old San Francisco Girl Struck and Killed by Uber Driver; Uber Denies Responsibility

Of course, the same questions might be asked of drivers for traditional taxi companies. But they’re not.

What the Data Says

A newly released study from Aite Group and Zendrive, “Driving Analytics: Ridesharing Drivers Are Safer Than Average American Drivers,” sheds some much-needed light on the question of rideshare drivers’ behind-the-wheel behavior, and by extension, the safety of their customers.

The study analyzed driving data for 1 million trips made by 12,000 drivers, accounting for 15 million miles, comparing results for rideshare drivers and non-rideshare drivers.

Overall, on a scale where higher is better, rideshare drivers scored 80 points versus a 76 for average drivers. The difference was considered “statistically significant.”

On the particulars, the study found that rideshare drivers are less likely to engage in such safety-compromising activities as speeding, aggressive driving, and using their smartphones while driving (rideshare drivers used their phones for 23 seconds on a 15-minute drive, versus 35 seconds for average drivers).

On the other hand, rideshare drivers were found to engage in more hard braking, a negative attribute, than average drivers.

The conclusion: “Rideshare drivers, based on multiple attributes, drive more safely than do average drivers.” You are safer riding with an Uber driver than you would be driving with a friend. Or driving yourself.

The study had no access to comparable data for taxi drivers, so the question of rideshare-versus-taxi safety remains unaddressed.

With its limited sample size, the Aite study is hardly the final word on the subject. But it’s a noteworthy attempt to bring some clarity to a subject that so far has been shrouded in preconceptions and hearsay.

Uber on!

Reader Reality Check

Is safety a concern to you when using Uber or Lyft?

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After 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.

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