Hundreds of thousands of people drive under the influence daily. Across the country, drunk driving kills over 13,000 Americans per year, accounting for nearly a third of all traffic-related fatalities. But it doesn’t have to be this way. After a night out, more and more people are making the safe choice to ride with Uber instead.
“A complete implementation of uberX would create a public welfare net of over $1.3 billion to American taxpayers and save roughly 500 lives annually.”
– Greenwood and Wattal, Show Me the Way to Go Home
An independent study by two Philadelphia-based Temple University professors at the Fox School of Business, Brad Greenwood and Sunil Wattal, evaluated trends in vehicular homicide in California cities after the launch of Uber. The study had no affiliation with Uber, but confirmed what we already knew in Pennsylvania—Uber is improving the safety of communities across the country by providing reliable access to safe rides at the touch of a button.
Professors Greenwood and Wattal found cities where Uber operates have 3.6%-5.6% fewer drunk driving deaths than cities without access to ridesharing. This means Uber has the potential to save hundreds of lives and billions of dollars, when you account for the cost of medical care, prosecution and incarceration across the country every year.
At Uber, safety has always been a top priority, and we take that commitment very seriously. We have partnered with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and many other valued community stakeholders to build a world where a safe ride is always within reach and drunk-driving is a thing of the past. We are excited to continue this journey and, as we expand more and more throughout the country, we look forward to continuing to help make our roads safer for everyone.
“I hope policy makers take the findings seriously when they try to incorporate these emerging business models into the economy.”
– Brad Greenwood, The Daily Beast