2/20/2018 12:51:00 AM by Finkelstein & Partners, LLP
Uber drivers are dependent upon the Uber app to inform them where a passenger is, where they want to go and what the fare will be. They are notified by a ping on their phone along with additional information as to where the pick-up will be. During the ride, the Uber driver may use the phone for directions, or to pick up other passengers. In other words, an Uber driver spends a lot of time looking at, and being distracted by, their phone.
When an Uber driver gets a request for pick-up, they only have 10 to 15 seconds to accept the request. Within that time frame, no matter what the driving conditions are, a driver must make visual and cognitive choices. If you miss this deadline, it hurts your acceptance rate which hurts the amount of money you can earn and can eventually result in being de-activated in the system. Responding to the ping takes manual, visual and cognitive attention which, by definition, is a distraction. If you are responding to the call while in the middle of heavy traffic or while driving in unsafe road or weather conditions, this becomes particularly dangerous. Although Uber urges their drivers to use hands-free navigation, a phone mount and to always employ safe driving practices, there is a financial incentive to distracted driving because drivers must look at their phones, get the location and time requirement, decide as to how to respond and then respond in a matter of seconds. Read more: https://goo.gl/3ob3gu