
You Drink, Uber Drives – For Free - pfusiarz
http://www.startuppanel.co/you-drink-uber-drives-for-free/
======
jawns
This publicity stunt by Uber actually creates a perverse incentive for
drinkers to _increase_ their blood alcohol level.

If cab fare home is more expensive than the cost of the drinks needed to get
you over the limit, then it makes (financial) sense to drink up.

Which sounds harmless, since Uber's agreeing to drive you home.

But if your blood alcohol level is high enough to impair your ability to drive
safely, who's to say what other abilities it might impair?

And does Uber really want to assume moral liability, if not legal liability,
if something goes wrong?

~~~
genericuser
Most college campuses already do something similar with safe ride programs.
Such programs are usually seen as a good thing, in my experience.

The amount of alcohol needed to be over the legal limit is actually remarkably
small and Toronto and other major cities they might possibly do this promotion
in aren't exactly known for cheap drinks. Based on that and the high
probability that a person who goes out drinking in a major city will not
venture too far from their residence, I expect that two drinks would usually
be more expensive than a ride home.

Uber fucks up plenty of things that are worth taking issue with, it is my
opinion that this is not one of those things. I think most people should see
this as a morally positive promotion.

~~~
kedean
Every campus safe-ride I've heard of is free for all students no matter what.
The issue here is the breathalyzer, not that they provide free rides for the
drunk ones. At the college I went to, for example, you could use saferide as
long as you had a campus id (now you can even use it without as long as you
are with a group of <5 with an id among you, or if you pay $2). There's no
incentive to get drunk there, because the ride will be there regardless. Since
Uber is breathalyzing the clients, it's actually in your favor to be over the
limit, hence the extra liability.

~~~
genericuser
The saferide at schools I went to(large state schools) was limited to students
who they deemed 'needed' it so if you stated you didn't feel safe, or that you
were drunk they would provide a ride. If you were sober, felt safe, and were
honest though they would not provide you with a ride. I know I tried at both
schools I attended. Some of us would take more moral issue with lying to abuse
a resource in way other than its intended purpose, than with getting drunk so
we could use it honestly.

You can easily 'lie' to the breathalyzer to make yourself read as over the
limit without drinking more also, so for me it is the same issue.

------
rememberlenny
Site is down - Content pasted below::

Video: [https://youtu.be/VECIOprmHMg](https://youtu.be/VECIOprmHMg)

We’ve all been there.

You go out with friends and by then end of the night find yourself drunk in
the back of a taxi, searching for $10 to pay the driver. For those who stumble
home, singing Sweet Caroline, we applaud you.

This is where Uber took initiative.

The popular ride sharing app is often at the center of global debate as it
attempts to disrupt traditional taxis while battling employee wage suits and
suppressing customer safety concerns.

However, recently the service has introduced free rides for anyone who passes
a breathalyzer test. The concept is called Uber Safe, their attempt to
suppress drunk driving. it consists of a massive breathalyzer machine on on a
sidewalk. All you have to do is take a straw, from the machine, and see if you
blow over the legal limit.

If you do pass, you’re too drunk to drive. Uber will hail you a car for a free
ride home.

A site has appeared in Toronto as a marketing stunt, so don’t get excited.
However, with the massive turnout Uber has told users to “stay tuned” for more
kiosks in more areas.

Our only concern will be the lines at any NYC kiosk when at that point, drunks
will have to decide between waiting for a possible free ride or taking their
chances.

------
selter01
What? I ONLY use Uber when I'm drinking, otherwise I'd drive myself.

I would go from spending $100/mo to $0

------
copsarebastards
Commenters on this thread have their heads so far up their asses that they are
choking on their noses. Only on HN is a harm-reduction promo to decrease drunk
driving a PR disaster because it _might_ cause some people to drink _one_ more
drink to get a free ride.

Did you ever think that overthinking things might give people a perverse
incentive to drink so they can forget your post?

~~~
CodeWriter23
Seriously, a huge uproar over a marketing 101 textbook promotion. Attempt to
alter consumer behavior in a manner that favors your brand by giving away a
free sample. Does anyone seriously think Uber will continue this promo
indefinitely? Of course not. I'm guessing the culture in Toronto is most
people drive drunk because cabs cost too much, so this kind of promo is
intended to help gain traction in the most lucrative market segment for Uber,
the bar/club closers.

------
molyss
I might be sounding as taking Uber for overly cynical, but it really sounds
like yet another way to kill all competitors. And if it is, I am wondering
what will happen when all competition is indeed killed. Will they keep burning
money on it (as they do today on uberpool), or stop the whole program, andmake
people chose between paying an uber or driving home wasted ? I'd bet on the
second case, in which case the reduction of DYI will only be temporary,
followed to a potential increase compared to current rates (due to people
drinking more becaus of this stunt). Am I paranoid ?

~~~
genericuser
I thought something similar. In that I read this and immediately thought 'wow
Uber came up with a way to cut into one of the Taxi systems cash cows even
more' Now if they come up with something like cheaper rates when one end point
of your trip is an airport they can take a cut of the other big one. It seems
remarkably clever as an idea to hurt their competition, just enough evil to
seem charming to me in this light.

~~~
slayed0
They already do that by providing flat rates to/from many major airports to
their corresponding downtown zones.

~~~
genericuser
Ahhh well I never claimed to be clever or original. Unfortunately for me in
Boston they have an 8.75 airport surcharge, and no sign of flat rates from my
experience.

------
niravshah
I wasn't getting the page itself to load - here is a cached version of the
page
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:jj45GHq...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:jj45GHqI1IwJ:www.startuppanel.co/you-
drink-uber-drives-for-free/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)

------
BrianEatWorld
I don't know if its the same in all cities, but in Austin I have actually had
taxi services refuse to pick me up if I give an address that is a bar,
regardless of my level of inebriation.

Uber may not be a model corporate citizen, but I have trouble as seeing this
as anything but a good move. Particularly, given that my current city has a
pretty big issue with drunk drivers.

------
cwkoss
If you want get a free ride and you're sober, just swish some hard liquor
around your mouth before you blow. A little single serving bottle could
probably get you 3-4 trips!

------
philip1209
This sounds like the exact opposite PR image that Uber wants to create. "We
make it easier for you to get drunk." This would be like OpenDoor advertising
"Sell your house more quickly during a divorce." Technically, yes, but that's
not a sustainable image for your company.

------
arprocter
This could get ugly if the kiosk tells someone they're below the limit, they
drive off in their car and then the cop who pulls them over thinks otherwise.

------
gkop
Cab companies have been running this promotion on New Year's Eve since as long
as I can remember, it's not a new idea.

~~~
milesokeefe
Those haven't been automated with a breathalyzer kiosk though.

------
robgibbons
Why should Uber drivers be forced to deal with shitfaced passengers? Unless
the drivers have the choice of taking this category of passengers, this seems
like a real shoddy deal for drivers, and a bad incentive for alcoholics.

~~~
joshstrange
So right now the #1 reason I use Uber/Lyft is because I am drunk or plan on
drinking and don't want to:

A. Leave my car downtown and have to get it in the morning

B. Give drunk Josh the option to drive. I'd rather take a Lyft, not drink and
take a Lyft back then take the chance that I will made a very stupid decision
while drunk and drive home.

I'm rarely "shitfaced" but most of my friends use Uber/Lyft that same way I do
so I'm always drunk or planning or being drunk when I take a Lyft. For
everything else I just drive myself.

What I'm trying to say is Uber/Lyft drivers already deal with this so if this
initiative helps to keep drunks off the road (both driving and walking, which
I've heard can be even more dangerous than driving) then I'm all for it.

------
herbig
Yeah, this is a terrible idea, for all the reasons people have already listed.
Perverse incentives, easily gamed.

You have to wonder how these kind of things even get past the initial
brainstorming sessions. It only takes a couple reasonably intelligent people a
bit of discussion to come up with why this is not a good idea.

But maybe Uber knows what they are doing, or how to handle the downsides. I'm
skeptical.

~~~
schoen
You could probably increase your Breathalyzer reading sharply by gargling with
a few mL of hard liquor seconds before taking the test. (I understood this as
an unmanned device.)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breathalyzer#Mouth_alcohol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breathalyzer#Mouth_alcohol)

"[C]ertified breath-test operators are trained to observe a test subject
carefully for at least 15–20 minutes before administering the test [... A]
very tiny amount of alcohol from the mouth, throat or stomach can have a
significant impact on the breath-alcohol reading." If so, people who haven't
been drinking at all but are willing to carry around a flask of liquor might
be able to get free rides home at any time.

~~~
copsarebastards
So what? It's a promotion, if Uber wants to give away money that's their call.

~~~
schoen
I didn't mean to join all of the other criticisms of the program; I was just
interested in the reliability of the Breathalyzer as a way of achieving the
apparent goal, which I think is low. I'm not particularly bothered or
concerned that Uber is doing this.

------
cmdrfred
The real issue is why are bars legal in the first place? Not being a user of
alcohol but living next to a bar I constantly ask that question. If they
really wanted to catch drunk drivers just sit in front of my house and you
would pick up a couple an hour.

Also how can you call yourself a adult and then go out get completely
shitfaced then go "Oh no, I don't have a way to get home." like it was a
unavoidable consequence of existence.

*People who downvote (but have no correction, objection, or answer to) this may have to reevaluate the role bacteria feces plays in their lives.

~~~
icebraining
Why wouldn't bars be legal?

~~~
cmdrfred
If drinking and driving isn't legal and said bar is not within walking
distance of any public transport then how can they legally serve more than a
beer or two when you arrive alone or when the entire party is drinking? Either
change the limit or bust them. The drunks near me even park their cars toward
the street because they know when they leave they will be to drunk to back
out.

~~~
cheetos
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicab](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicab)

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Designated_driver](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Designated_driver)

~~~
cmdrfred
Please see above comment where I say neither are being used.

