Logic tells us that with the increased use of ride-sharing apps like Lyft and Uber that there would a lower number of drunk driving arrests. I’ve been saying it since they’ve become available: If you’re too drunk, don’t drive. Take alternative means of transportation like Lyft and Uber. And it seems like people have been.
In 2015 Uber collaborated with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to commission a study on the impact of Uber on drunk driving. The study found that DUI arrests and accidents fell significantly in areas where Uber was available.
“In California, Uber’s home state and largest market, drunk-driving crashes fell by 60 per month among drivers under 30 in the markets where Uber operates following the launch of uberX,” the study authors stated. “That’s an estimated total of 1,800 crashes prevented since July 2012.”
Last month, however, the American Journal of Epidemiology published a study that contradicted Uber and MADD’s initial claims.
The study compared DUI related deaths on weekends and holidays in U.S. counties before the introduction of ride-sharing apps and after. Researchers from the University of Southern California and Oxford University focused on statistics from the 100 most populated metropolitan cities in the U.S.
The study concluded that there was no significant reduction in drunk driving deaths before and after the introduction of Uber and other ride-sharing apps.
“We found that the deployment of Uber services in a given metropolitan county had no association with the number of subsequent traffic fatalities, whether measured in aggregate or specific to drunk-driving fatalities or fatalities during weekends and holidays,” wrote the researchers. Study co-author David Kirk told the Washington Post the report indicates “there’s still tons of room for improvement when it comes to reducing drunk driving fatalities.”
The authors speculated on the reasons behind their findings:
“The average inebriated individual contemplating drunk driving may not be sufficiently rational to substitute drinking and driving for a presumably safer Uber ride,” said the study’s authors. “[I]t is also possible that many drunk drivers rationally conclude that it is too costly to pay for an Uber ride (or taxi) given that the likelihood of getting arrested for drinking and driving is actually quite low.”
Uber spokesperson, Brooke Anderson, responded to the recent study in an email to the Washington Post:
“We’re glad Uber can provide an alternative to drunk driving and help people make more responsible choices. Our ridership numbers show that trips peak at times when people are more likely to be out drinking and 80% of riders says that Uber has helped them personally avoid drinking and driving.”
Whether the research points to a reduction in DUI-related fatalities or not, one thing remains sure. Taking an Uber or other ride-sharing app is always a better option than driving drunk.
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