If you’ve ever hailed an Uber ride and thought afterward that you paid a lot less than you should have, those days may soon be over. The company’s latest change to its pricing model will offer you a rate that isn’t based purely on time and distance, but on what Uber’s computers think you’ll be willing to pay. [More]
drivers
Some Younger People Are Buying Cars So They Can Drive For Ride-Sharing Services
By 3.1.17
For many drivers, the best part of having your own car is that you don’t have to deal with anyone else — you can blast your music, sing at the top of your lungs, or eat a tuna sandwich, and there’s no one to judge you. But some younger drivers now may have a new reason to buy a car: To become a driver for Uber or Lyft. [More]
Driver Says Police Radar Confused His Car With A Really Fast Deer
By 1.30.17
My speedometer must be broken…. You must have me confused with another car… I think your radar gun needs calibrating… I think that super-fast deer over there is the one who should get the ticket… One of these statements is not a common excuse for trying to get out of a speeding ticket. [More]
Can You Be Arrested For Not Showing Your Driver’s License?
By 11.28.16 — Updated: 11.29.16
Imagine you and your friends are driving somewhere in two cars. Your friend in the other car gets pulled over for a minor traffic violation, so you pull over to wait. Then an officer comes to your door asking to see your license. If you refuse to produce the license because you’ve done nothing wrong, can you be arrested? Depends on which judge you ask. [More]
NJ Man Arrested For 323 Toll Violations Worth $20K Enters Drivers’ Hall Of Toll Shame
By 11.18.16
There’s that one time you didn’t realize your auto-paying toll pass wasn’t in the car, and then there’s earning yourself 323 toll violations and failing to pay the $20,869 in fees and fines you owe. [More]
Couple Accused Of Stuffing Toll Baskets To Steal Coins Join Drivers’ Hall Of Toll Shame
By 11.8.16
While it’s doubtful that anyone has ever driven up to a tollbooth and exclaimed, “Oh, goodie! I get to pay a toll!” it’s important to help keep the nation’s roads maintained and drivable. Police in New Jersey say that one couple not only avoided paying tolls, but hatched a scheme to pocket all those coins for themselves. [More]
Instacart Shoppers Say Getting Rid Of Tips Will Ultimately Hurt Customers
By 10.13.16
Last month, thousands of Instacart shoppers and drivers — the people who get paid to collect and then drop off grocery orders for customers of the online service — were notified that they would soon be seeing a difference in their paychecks as the company overhauled its tipping and scheduling policies. This announcement hasn’t exactly gone over swimmingly, and now several Instacart workers are telling Consumerist why they have misgivings about the change. [More]
AAA: Basically Everyone Has Experienced Road Rage
By 7.14.16
You grip the wheel a bit harder, you huff, and puff, and threaten under your breath to do awful things to the stranger who just cut you off, and then “HOOOOOOONK,” you lay on the horn for a solid 10 second. It’s called road rage, and most American drivers have experienced it, according to a new research report from AAA.
[More]
This Is What Can Happen When You Play Pokémon Go While Driving
By 7.14.16
For anyone who thinks that warnings like this one from AAA to not play Pokémon Go while driving aren’t necessary, just look at what happened to a New York guy’s car after he peeked at his Pokémon for just a second behind the wheel. [More]
Uber Will Start Tracking Driver Behavior Through Its App
By 6.29.16
The next time your Uber driver takes a turn too fast or slams the brakes at the last second, Uber will know. The company says driver behavior will start to be tracked through its app soon. [More]
Illinois Rakes In More License Plate Renewal Fees Than Usual After Failing To Mail Reminders
By 6.24.16
Some Illinois residents are a bit ticked off right now, after the state reaped $5.24 million more this year than it did in 2015 from license plate renewal fees. That’s a lot of money — were people just really distracted or forgetful this year? Not quite. An impasse on the state budget meant officials didn’t have the cash to mail reminders out to drivers. [More]
Uber Adds Tools To App For Drivers, Doesn’t Add Higher Pay Or In-App Tips
By 6.6.16
What drivers for ride-hailing apps really want is to make more money. They’d like higher fares, or for passengers to have the ability to tip them from inside the app: really, either of those would be great. Instead, drivers for Uber are getting a suite of handy features, like being able to pick up passengers traveling in the same direction as they want to end up. Not higher fares, though. [More]
San Francisco Requiring Uber, Lyft Drivers To Get Business Licenses
By 4.15.16
Though you might think of Uber and Lyft drivers as employees of those ridesharing services, the companies maintain that drivers are independent contractors who simply use the Uber or Lyft platforms to connect with passengers. That now means that several thousand of these independent operators in San Francisco must each obtain a business license.
[More]
Uber To Pay $25M To Settle Allegations It Misled Passengers On Drivers’ Safety, Fees
By 4.8.16
Less than two months after Uber agreed to pay $28.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of misleading consumers about its “industry leading” safety procedures, the ride-hailing company is ready to put another case behind it. The company will pay $25 million to settle a civil lawsuit with the district attorneys in Los Angeles and San Francisco over nearly identical allegations. [More]
GM Will Rent Cars To Lyft Drivers For $99/Week
By 3.15.16
If you were wondering what General Motors planned to do with its $500 million investment in ride-sharing service Lyft, you might have an answer; or at least part of one. The carmaker will now rent out Chevy Equinox SUVs to prospective drivers who lack the all-important piece of the ride-sharing puzzle: a set of wheels. [More]
Uber To Pay $28.5M To Settle Allegations It Misled Customers On Safety Practices
By 2.12.16
Ride-hailing service Uber has agreed to pay $28.5 million to more than 25 million customers, and rename its so-called “safe ride fee” in order to settle a class-action lawsuit that the company misled consumers about its “industry leading” safety procedures. [More]
Uber Launches Service To Help Drivers Connect With Passengers On Their Route
By 11.16.15
Between offering taxi, private car and rideshare options, Uber seems to have a service to meet just about every users’ transportation needs. Today, the company announced it’s also looking out for its drivers, by launching Destinations, a feature that lets drivers tell the app where they’re heading and pick up passengers along the way. [More]
Police: Man Pretended He Was His Brother To Avoid $7,500 In Unpaid Tolls
By 7.31.15
It’s a classic caper: passing yourself off as your brother or sister to squirm out of trouble when you’re caught doing something you shouldn’t. But New Jersey police say one man didn’t quite pull off the sibling switcheroo when he was stopped for $7,500 in unpaid tolls. [More]
