Uber Joins New York City’s Fight Against Fatigued Driving
New York City, New York Christian Mueller / Shutterstock.com
The car-booking company will abide by the Taxi & Limousines Commission’s revised rules on for-hire drivers’ shift lengths, once they’re solidified.
Uber adopted the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission’s policy prohibiting its drivers from working more than 12 consecutive hours, according to a letter obtained by The Verge.
In the Thursday missive, Uber General Manager Josh Mohrer expressed the company’s commitment to the city’s push to curb fatigued driving to TLC Commissioner Meera Joshi.
Mohrer was quick to point out Uber’s NYC drivers spend 30 hours a week on average on the road—far less than the rest of the for-hire industry:
Though this rule does not currently apply to For-Hire Drivers, we want to do our part to ensure that drivers are being safe on our city streets. We will be notifying all driver-partners that it is unsafe to use the Uber app for more than 12 hours at a time. We will, on a daily basis, be using our technology to identify a driver-partner who has been using the Uber app for more than 12 consecutive hours. Our New York City-based team will follow up with any driver that goes over this limit to notify them of the hours limit policy and take other appropriate steps. These measures will include temporary, and possibly permanent, deactivation from the Uber platform if repeated violations occur and warnings are ignored.
Letter to Commissioner Joshi - 2.11.2016 (3) (1) (1)
The change in Uber’s policy is a response to recent New York Post coverage, according to the letter, of some for-hire drivers in the city working 19-hour shifts. In November, a cabbie hit and killed an 88-year-old great-grandmother after 16 hours on the job.
TLC drivers are currently allowed to reset their work clocks after taking a break, no matter how short, with violators subject to a $25 fine that’s never been levied in 26 years, the Post reported.
“Our goal in the coming months is to develop and propose rules, grounded in data and practices, that, as an extension of the Vision Zero action plan, will distill our research into actions that ensure the safe operation of the for-hire industry,” Joshi told the Post.
Vision Zero is a multinational traffic safety initiative trying to eliminate all road fatalities and serious injuries.
One reason for Uber drivers’ long hours is the company’s recent 15 percent rate cut for average rides, which sparked employee protests in New York City earlier this month. Uber leadership has said the decision should see drivers’ pay increase, but employees in cities like Austin—planning a Valentine’s Day protest—aren’t buying that logic.
"Our intention is not to necessarily bring the city to a grinding halt," an Uber driver told Austin Inno. "If I take a look at what I was earning eight months ago and compared it to what I earned last month, I now work significantly more to make significantly less."
Dave Nyczepir is a News Editor at Government Executive’s Route Fifty. (Photo by Christian Mueller / Shutterstock.com)
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