Is Ridesharing Responsible for the Lowering of Drunk Driving Car Accidents?

Since Uber first arrived on the transportation scene in 2009, it redefined the industry. It paved the way for other ridesharing services such as Lyft and Juno and proved a fierce competition for traditional taxicabs by offering cheaper rates for rides.

Ridesharing services are highly attractive for a variety of reasons. They are convenient, affordable, and safe. The surge in the popularity of such services also led to legislation reviews and updates, with drivers now having liability coverage and abiding by new insurance regulations. Still, the situation is far from perfect as car accidents still happen. Rideshare drivers are human (and drivers), and they sometimes make mistakes or are the victims of others' errors. When it comes to legal matters, rideshare accidents play in a league of their own. You should click here for more info about ridesharing accidents, so you should know what to know and expect when you ride in another driver's car.

Nevertheless, ridesharing is a safe and wise choice overall, especially if you drink when you go out and want to return home in one piece and without any legal issues weighing on your shoulders. So it is also fair to wonder whether drunk driving accidents have decreased due to ridesharing services' popularity in recent years. Unfortunately, the answer is not clear. Studies seem to indicate contradictory results on the topic. So we look closer at the data and what lies behind it.

Are Ridesharing Services Beneficial When You're Intoxicated?

For individuals who are out having a good time and drinking, ridesharing services are a literal lifesaver. When a person gets intoxicated, it's easy for them to take out their smartphone and request a ride from Uber/Lyft to get home safely. In general, studies have shown that fewer arrests for driving while intoxicated or DWI have occurred in metropolitan areas since the advent of ridesharing services.

Moreover, recent data shows that ridesharing plays a crucial part in reducing the death toll associated with drunk driving in the United States. According to researchers (who still need peer-reviews for their findings), ridesharing reduced alcohol-related traffic fatalities in the U.S. by 6% and the total U.S. traffic fatalities by about 4%. Peer-reviewed or not, the data indicates that ride sharing saves lives. Let’s leave it at that for now.

Of course, this doesn't mean that arrests for drunk driving don't occur at all. Some research hints that the effects of ridesharing services on arrests are exaggerated. You are considered too impaired to safely operate a vehicle when your blood alcohol concentration is over the legal limit of 0.08%. However, it's possible to be right at the legal limit and still get arrested if you perform a field sobriety test poorly.

Drunk Driving Before and After Ridesharing Services

Although Uber started in 2009, it wasn't widely available everywhere in the country for the first few years. However, certain cities were lucky enough to have it available before it made its huge ascent across the United States and worldwide.

At the start of the ridesharing services industry, Uber, Lyft, and their counterparts did not make much of a difference regarding drunk driving accidents and fatalities. However, more recently, a study followed whether ridesharing services and public transportation decreased drunk driving rates. This data trend could be explained by familiarity. Perhaps users needed more time to learn about and trust a new service.

The new research revealed that out of 1,500 Uber and other rideshare users, around 40 percent stated that they would have driven home in their cars if they didn't use the service. These individuals, on average, also reported consuming about eight drinks over five hours. This shows that if it weren't for Uber, Lyft, and other ridesharing services, more drunk driving accidents would have occurred within the group of the study's participants.

The Drunk Driving Problem of the United States

Unfortunately, some states stick out like a sore thumb when it comes to the number of fatalities connected to drunk driving accidents and fatalities in the U.S. (here's looking at you, Wyoming!). The overall numbers have slightly increased in the last few years in states like Texas, California, South and North Dakota, Montana, Maine, Idaho, and more, unfortunately.

Additionally, ridesharing services don't appear to be helping those numbers go down. Here are some reasons behind it:

● Drunk individuals may not feel as such and may not realize they shouldn't be driving, so they continue driving despite the wide availability of rideshare services.

● A person who wants to avoid driving drunk may turn to other transportation methods rather than ridesharing services. However, the "designated driver" scenario still works, together with cabs and public transportation.

● Ridesharing vehicles may not always be available, depending on the driver's area and the number of ride requests.

Final Thoughts

One thing is clear: drunk driving accidents are not going away. Even with Uber, Lyft, and other ridesharing services gaining hundreds of new users each day, there are still many people getting behind the wheel, despite having consumed alcohol, sometimes in large quantities. Telling you to refrain from driving after you had a drink means going all "Captain Obvious" on you, but it is what it is. Drunk driving claims lives and causes incommensurable personal and property damages. Sometimes, even a rideshare driver can get you in an accident, but you have specialized lawyers to fight for you in such cases. It is easier to do so than hiring an army of defense attorneys for a criminal offense.