Uber = Paying Hitchhiking, Right?

[Saintly_Loser]

@John_Bredin

I don’t know how it is in other cities, but licensed taxis in Chicago have some protection of the drivers mandated by ordinance. Previously, all leased taxis had to have the (bulky, leg-room robbing) bulletproof floor-to-ceiling shield invariably manufactured in or near New York City. :dubious: The Chicago ordinance now allows taxi owners to choose between providing their drivers the shield or a passenger-facing video camera (IME most cabs have the camera, not the shield). Do Uber cars have that?

Well, no kidding. A cam is a hell of a lot cheaper than the shield.

Speaking as a former NYC cab driver (I drove a yellow cab in the early eighties), fleet owners don’t give a shit about drivers’ safety. Only a legal requirement for the shields (and/or other safety devices) would get them to spend a nickel on protecting the drivers.

[AHunter3]

@Jinx

Yet, on the flip side, ask yourself: would you really stop for a hitchhiker?

Of course. Unless I had a bad feeling about them or something.

Now, suddenly, picking up paying hitchhikers is safe (because you’d do anything for a buck)?

The danger associated with hitchhiking is the danger to the hitchhiker. It’s very rarely dangerous to the driver. I won’t say “never” of course, but under most circumstances what you risk when you pick up a hitchhiker is

• smelly passenger

• passenger engaging you in inane conversation

• hitchhiker whining at you trying to beg cash donations, food, etc

• hitchhiker excitedly talking, making no sense whatsoever
I’ve never had worse than that happen to me when I’ve picked up a hitchhiker. When I’ve hitched rides myself I’ve run into far more predatory people.

Do you (Jinx / anyone else reading) have a history of evil hitchhikers? Or are you just repeating urban legend shit and assuming it’s all true stories of what happens when folks pick up hitchhikers?

[gigi]

@Gatopescado

Thanks! Okay, next question: Are Uber drivers circumcised?

Answered upthread – they don’t get tips.

[Andy_L]

@AHunter3

Of course. Unless I had a bad feeling about them or something.

The danger associated with hitchhiking is the danger to the hitchhiker. It’s very rarely dangerous to the driver. I won’t say “never” of course, but under most circumstances what you risk when you pick up a hitchhiker is

• smelly passenger

• passenger engaging you in inane conversation

• hitchhiker whining at you trying to beg cash donations, food, etc

• hitchhiker excitedly talking, making no sense whatsoever
I’ve never had worse than that happen to me when I’ve picked up a hitchhiker. When I’ve hitched rides myself I’ve run into far more predatory people.

Do you (Jinx / anyone else reading) have a history of evil hitchhikers? Or are you just repeating urban legend shit and assuming it’s all true stories of what happens when folks pick up hitchhikers?

You might be interested in this article which talks about how common hitchhiking once was, and how it changed

Freakonomics

"DUBNER: That’s Bill James. He’s the guy who helped revolutionize the field of baseball statistics – and he likes writing about crime, too. His latest book is called Popular Crime. James was born in 1949, in Kansas.

JAMES: One time, with two small kids in the car, late at night, coming back from a movie, we saw two black guys, two black adult males standing beside the road. Now, my father was not Spencer Tracy. He was not a violent racist, but he was a man of his generation, and he had the racist attitudes that were common in his generation. Nonetheless, we stopped, we asked them if they needed a ride, and we took them where the needed to go. And the reason why was you just did. It was in the time in place where I grew up, if you saw somebody in need of a ride you gave them a ride. "