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The introduction of ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft hasn't had any impact on the number of fatalities related to drunken driving, a 

Researchers at the University of Southern California and Oxford University looked at the 100 most populated metropolitan areas, analyzing data from before and after the introduction of Uber and its competitors, and found that access to ride-sharing apps had no effect on traffic fatalities related to drinking alcohol.


Uber has repeatedly pointed to drunken-driving reduction as a benefit of its service. A 2015 

 on its website, titled "Making Our Roads Safer For Everyone," notes a survey Uber conducted with the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving that found 

 that people believe their friends are less likely to drive drunk since the introduction of Uber.

In June, a 

 by researchers at Providence College and Stonehill College found a reduction in fatal vehicle crashes associated with ride-sharing app availability.
Uber has also 

 by data scientists at Temple University that showed a correlation between decreased alcohol-related driving fatalities and the introduction of Uber services in California. The authors of that study, Brad Greenwood and Sunil Wattal, say they examined data from only one state and did not control for other factors that could affect drunken driving, such as changes in legislation. "Further work is necessary to ensure that there are not confounding factors which also influence the findings," they 

 in the paper's conclusion.
In the latest study, published in the 

, the researchers analyzed county-level data from 100 metropolitan areas in dozens of states and controlled for the effects of state laws that could affect drunk driving fatalities, such as bans on texting while driving, marijuana-related legislation and taxes on alcohol.


The authors also separated total alcohol-related traffic fatalities from those that occurred on weekends or holidays, and found no reduction in deaths with the introduction of Uber in either case.

So, why? The authors of the study speculated that drunk people might not want to shell out for the services:


In response to the latest study, Uber spokeswoman Brooke Anderson 

 quotes one of the study's authors, David Kirk, as saying: "The takeaway for me is that there's still tons of room for improvement when it comes to reducing drunk driving fatalities."  Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Lifestyle

Rebecca Hersher

Author

A new study of data from 100 U.S. cities finds access to apps for ride-sharing services has not led to a decrease in alcohol-related traffic fatalities.

Uber hasn't had an effect on drunken-driving deaths, study finds

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