I Don't Know Whether to Laugh or Cry

What about this recent story?

A driver was recently reported as asking his rider for her phone so he could "make a route alteration".

The passenger reported that he did something really quick with the phone and then handed it back to her.

The "really quick" thing that he'd done was to end the trip and give himself a 5-star rating, followed by a generous tip of $100! Now that's taking the self-employment concept a bit too far.

Umm... there is another word for that - it's called stealing.

There's an EV in Your Future

Like it or not, there's an EV (Electric Vehicle) in your future. Perhaps your very next car, perhaps the one after that.

For EVs to take off in Australia, we need at least two of these things to happen:

A car to arrive, almost certainly from Japan or Korea, that fires our imagination and that also has a range between charges of a comfortable 500 kms.

Are You a Good Driver?

Most rideshare drivers are.

You are more mature than the average, you've been driving longer and you are aware that your income is proportional to your driving ability. As well as your passengers' well-being and safety.

Do You Enjoy a Takeaway Coffee?

Well, you're gonna have to be careful.

That's a Fine, Not a Reward

Legislation is about to be passed in the state of Queensland, Australia that will see motorists fined $1,000 for using their mobile (cell) phone while driving.

And there's talk that a second offence will bring loss of license.

This article was originally reported in the Washington Post and while it raises real and serious concerns about rideshare driving, its conclusions apply specifically to the United States and even more specifically to Washington, D.C.

What do you think? Is this exclusively an American concern? What about where you drive? Let us know in the comments if you are concerned about any of these things where you drive.

Safety Concerns

A Georgetown University study of 40 Uber drivers in the D.C. region released Thursday found some thought the work “unsustainable,” with one-third reporting assaults or safety concerns and saying they went into debt to drive on the platform.

Based on interviews conducted in 2016, the study found 30 percent of the drivers were concerned about their safety. One driver told researchers of being robbed at gunpoint; another said he was assaulted after turning down drugs from a passenger.

Uber Will Ban Passengers with Low Ratings

Uber passengers who habitually arrive drunk, throw up in the car, leave their trash behind and generally disrespect their drivers and their driver's car may soon get the boot.

The ride-hailing company announced Tuesday that riders with ratings that are “significantly below average” may lose access to the app, part of a rollout of the company’s updated community guidelines, which riders must abide by to continue using the service.

You Can't Handle the Truth

Following the articles I've written recently about self-driving cars and the effect that it's going to have on us as Uber drivers, effectively making us redundant, a (small) number of Rideshare Guy subscribers have unsubscribed.

That's OK. It's human nature to bury our heads in the sand and try to ignore things we don't like. And clearly we don't like someone telling us that a source of income that we might be relying on is about to disappear.

But the fact is, folk, they are not about to go away.

To find out how you can get into Internet Marketing with my help, click on the Get It Here FREE button over to the right.

It's Official: Driverless Buses

Australian transport officials have travelled to Sweden to look at getting driverless buses brought to our shores.

The city of Barkaby is one of the first in the world to allow the autonomous buses to run in regular traffic.

This article first appeared in maximumridesharingprofits.com.

Most passengers who climb into our cars are polite, but what should we do when a passenger gets angry? It’s important to protect ourselves and enforce our own rules, all while giving good customer service.

It's useful to hear how other people deal with this issue, and Dylan over at The RideShare Hub recorded a video that shares his methods for dealing with angry passengers. Take a look, then scroll to the video transcript to read the points he covers.

Do You Have a Fall-Back Plan?

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm no longer driving for Uber.

This came about by accident or, perhaps more accurately, by force of circumstance. But it turned out to be a good thing.

It happened when I had a (very) expensive repair bill - $9,000 to source and replace the high pressure fuel pump, which lives inside the fuel tank and so is labour-intensive to replace. Along with all the ancillary components that support it.

Unfortunately, it happened while I was transporting Uber riders to the airport. I managed to flag down another Uber driver, who got my passengers to their destination and I then spent the rest of the day organising roadside assistance and a tow truck to get the vehicle to a specialist dealer for the repair.

5 Reasons Driverless Cars Are Coming Faster Than You Think

1. The Road Toll

Imagine if you woke up to the headline tomorrow "38,000 dead. More to come." You'd be horrified. You'd be demanding that the government do something about it.

Yet that's "just" the number of people killed on American roads last year.

In the five years from 2014, the number of US road fatalities was 181,168. That's over 180,000 lives lost in just five years. Plus even more injured or disabled for life.