Ride-sharing services brand themselves as a safe and efficient means of transportation. Due to concerns about safety, they have even broken down some of the statistics to show how low those risks are.
For instance, one report claimed that the average in the United States is 1.1 fatalities for every 100 million miles traveled. When Uber did their own audit, they discovered that there were only 0.57 fatalities for every 100 million miles in Uber vehicles. This was spun as a way to show that Uber was safer than driving on your own.
The problems with these statistics
These statistics are helpful, and the fact that Uber isn’t higher than the national average is a good thing. But there are some problems that do need to be addressed.
First and foremost, you have to consider how people use Uber. Many trips happen after dark. Most people aren’t taking an Uber to the grocery store on a Wednesday afternoon. They’re taking it home from the bar on a Friday night.
Similarly, many Uber trips are short and stay on city streets, where speed limits tend to be lower. That’s not to say you can’t take an hour-long trip or find an Uber in a rural area, but it’s just that far more of the rides happen in urban centers.
What does this have to do with statistics? The issue is what was missing. Namely, Uber did not state how many people got injured in accidents.
We know from studying the stats that rural roads tend to have a disproportionate amount of fatal accidents. Speed limits are higher, drives are longer, and these roads are clearly more dangerous than city streets.
In other words, Uber, picked the statistics that served them well. They operate in a way that makes fatal crashes less likely, even with the elevated risk from drunk driving. But that doesn’t mean crashes don’t happen. It just means that someone who is going 25 or 30 miles per hour is more likely to be injured than killed. By only reporting on fatalities, Uber leaves out the real risk people face in their vehicles.
Have you been injured?
If you have been injured in a car accident, you need to know how to seek compensation. An experienced firm can help you explore your options.
