Drowsy Driving Policy

Every driver or delivery person who uses the Uber platform has a responsibility to drive safely and follow the established rules of the road. If we receive serious or repeated reports of drowsy driving, the driver or delivery person may lose access to their account, as stated in their Platform Access Agreement with Uber.*

What is drowsy driving?

Drowsy driving is driving when you are tired; here are some ways drivers and riders may notice that someone is driving drowsy:

• Appearing tired, exhausted, or sleepy
• Frequently blinking, having trouble keeping their head up and/or eyes on the road
• Frequently yawning
• Nodding off
• Following other vehicles too closely
• Unable to keep their vehicle in the lane or on the road

Why is drowsy driving unsafe?

According to the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), a lack of sleep may lead to and may cause:

• Slower reaction times
• Impaired judgment, situational awareness, and vision
• Increased levels of risk-taking
• Frequent blinking or microsleep, where someone literally dozes off for a few seconds while driving
• Problems with information processing
• Memory impairment (for example, around how many hours they’ve driven)
• Attention failure (for example, not paying attention to traffic signs)

How can a driver prevent drowsy driving? Here are some tips from GHSA:

• Be well rested before hitting the road. Several nights of fewer than 7-8 hours of sleep slows reaction time and results in a sleep debt. It may take several nights of being well rested to repay that debt and make someone ready for a long road trip.
• Schedule frequent breaks on long trips. Stop every 2 hours or 100 miles.
• Do not drink alcohol. Just one beer when someone is sleep-deprived mimics the effect of 2 or 3 when they’re well rested.
• Do not rely on caffeine to stay awake. Sleep is the only proven remedy when someone is tired.

How does Uber receive reports that a driver is driving drowsy?

Riders can contact customer support and report instances when their driver drove drowsy. (See “What is drowsy driving?” above for more information on what types of behaviors a rider may report.)

How does a rider let Uber know about the way a driver is driving?

Uber is committed to helping every experience for riders and drivers feel safe, respectful, and positive. If a rider feels that their driver was driving in an unsafe manner during a trip, we ask them to let us know by reaching out to our customer support team here or in the Uber app.

What happens to the driver if a rider reports they were driving while drowsy?

A complaint of drowsy driving may temporarily affect a driver’s access to the Driver app for 6 hours. Serious or repeated claims of drowsy driving can result in permanent loss of access to the Driver app.

Will a driver be affected by false rider reports?

Our teams proactively review each report for signs of fraud. We are continually implementing new processes and technology to identify and discourage user fraud. Any report we find to be related to fraud would not affect a driver’s safety history or their status on the Driver app. Users who submit false information to Uber or otherwise engage in fraudulent activity violate Uber’s Community Guidelines and risk losing access to the Uber platform.

* For more information about the types of conduct that can cause a user to lose access to the Uber platform, read our Community Guidelines; go here to understand why drivers and delivery people lose account access.

Note: Our Community Guidelines apply to everyone who uses the Uber platform, including drivers, riders, delivery people, Uber Eats users, and merchants. Drivers and delivery people are independent third-party providers and not actual agents, ostensible agents, or employees of Uber.