I’ve decided to include a few pages about ride-sharing and regulation in a project I’m working on, and I thought I’d reach out to EconLog readership for assistance: does anyone have a good lead on traffic accident rates for ride-sharing services like Uber, Lyft, and SideCar? I’d be very interested in seeing first how they do relative to taxis and other services and second how they do relative to the rest of the driving population.
READER COMMENTS
Marc Scribner
Aug 4 2014 at 1:26pm
One of the ridesharing regulatory scuffles has been over disclosure to government officials of insurance policies and driver histories. I suspect you’ll have a difficult time finding these data anytime soon.
Mike
Aug 4 2014 at 1:40pm
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Mr. Econotarian
Aug 4 2014 at 2:23pm
Not an answer…but a reminder that “normal” taxis crash all the time…
“Police said the driver of the taxi Charles L. Williams, 23, of Riverhead, was “distracted” as he picked something up off the floor and veered across the oncoming lane of travel before crashing into the Nissan pickup truck parked on the eastbound side of the road.
The taxi’s passenger, Tarell Holloway, 26, of Riverhead, was Williams’ friend, sustained a serious head injury in the accident, police said.” Monday, July 14 2014
Chad
Aug 4 2014 at 2:46pm
I’m a Lyft driver and regular blog reader. I look forward to seeing what you come up with. Let me know if you have any questions.
Art Carden
Aug 4 2014 at 8:26pm
@Chad: thanks! When’re we getting Lyft in Birmingham?
Mark Bahner
Aug 5 2014 at 12:21pm
I don’t have a lead, but my comment is that, as a passenger, all I would care about are accidents that result in injuries/deaths to passengers. Of course, it would be a bit of a hassle to even be involved in a accident, since I’d assume the passenger would have to hang around at least until the police arrived to assess the accident. But it would be passenger injuries/deaths that would really cancel out the monetary benefit.
Chad
Aug 5 2014 at 3:09pm
@Art
Good question and wish I knew the answer. This was the most recent development I could find:
http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/news/2014/07/29/city-council-passes-ridesharing-regs-that-uber.html?page=all
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