Image Credit: www.autoexpress.co.uk
Since its launch in San Francisco in 2010, Uber has grown tremendously, reaching 700 cities in more than 70 countries, on six continents by 2018. It took about six years to reach the milestone of a billion people’s travel (March 2016), and it took only two and a half years (September 2018) to reach a total of 10 billion business trips.
According to David Kirk, Professor of Sociology at Oxford University and Naffield University: Private transport services are private sector interventions and they have the potential to completely change the nature of road safety. But in the world, the potential benefits and detrimental effects of passenger transport for public safety. Our research shows the first findings on the link between Uber deployment in the UK and road traffic injuries and is very necessary for public debate on the safety of passenger transport.
This study was a joint study with Oxford researchers Bocconi University and the University of California at Davis. They take advantage of the differences in Uber deployment in the UK to determine the emergence of Uber services and mortality and non-mortality.
In the UK, deaths and injuries from road accidents have been steadily decreasing since the mid-1960s. This is partly to improve road and vehicle safety and to limit driving range under the influence of alcohol. However, in recent years, the decline in traffic accidents and the decline in serious injuries have stalled. The course has begun to reverse, with serious injuries increasing by almost 12% between 2014 and 2018. Suicide, drug overdose, and road deaths are among the leading causes of death in the UK for 15 to 29 years, as well as worldwide.
Professor Kirk states: On the contrary, Uber can increase traffic accidents by increasing the amount of vehicles and miles driving on British roads. Kirk, along with colleagues Nicolo Cavalli (Bocconi) and Nori Brazil (UC-Davis), found that minor injuries (torsion and bruises) decreased outside London after the launch of Uber, but increased within London. There was no statistically significant association between Uber and road deaths.
The interpretation of the reduction in serious traffic accidents is that Uber can be a form of transportation for dangerous drivers. It includes beverage drivers, although passenger transport is less than public transport, especially buses. It is also an alternative and increases traffic jams. The next step is to look at the impact of Uber’s withdrawal in a city such as London, where the supplier has lost its business license. Also see Uber and other transportation competitors outside the United States. I would like to look at the impact, because in the UK most of the transport market is in Asia.
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