7 ms·

I've had Uber drivers pick me up and refuse to go to the part of the city I wanted to go to... complete pain in the ass (and also racist in this specific case).

I've had Uber drivers pick me up and refuse to go to the part of the city I wanted to go to... complete pain in the ass (and also racist in this specific case). Uber offered me $5 for my trouble each time, which is... very Uber.

smsm42 6y ago
If the part of the city is unsafe (as some parts of some major cities are frequently nowdays) to the point the driver risks being assaulted by a mob, dragged out and beaten or shot, and their vehicle destroyed - I see no reason why they shouldn't be able to refuse such ride. No ride worth your life, and unless you're paying 1000x the Uber rates, no ride is worth your car ruined.
- timavr 6y ago
  I didn’t know Uber is live in Syria.
  - smsm42 6y ago
    It's live in Seattle, Portland and Chicago.
    - mrhyyyyde 6y ago
      Can you explain your point, the point is unclear. They're also live in other cities as well..?
      - dnissley 6y ago
        They're claiming that those cities are extremely dangerous. But in reality, that's just innumeracy.
        DuskStar 6y ago
        I think someone attempting to get an Uber pickup (or getting dropped off by an Uber) in the middle of CHOP/CHAZ might have had some problems. Particularly at night. Or any "drop me off within the ongoing protest" ride, really.
        crooked-v 6y ago
        Problems? Sure. It's going to be hell to try and get in and out of the area, since you'll have to either go at about two miles an hour while people move out of the way (while regularly stopping and waiting for unorganized crowds), or just go around the long way. 'Getting dragged out of your car and beaten'? No, unless the police do it (https://www.newsbreak.com/georgia/atlanta/news/1577488884462/footage-shows-black-students-forcefully-dragged-out-of-their-car-and-tased-by-six-police-officers https://www.newsbreak.com/georgia/atlanta/news/1577488884462...).
        DuskStar 6y ago
        If you're going to include individual incidents, you should include the CHAZ/CHOP shooting, and the various "people beat up the car as it drives through" occurrences too. Sure, those cars may have done something to offend/anger/threaten the protesters, but...
        crooked-v 6y ago
        > the CHAZ/CHOP shooting The one where a man drove into protestors and shot one of them, or one of the four non-related-to-protest shootings in a neighborhood that had been suddenly abandoned by police and already had a high violent crime rate compared to the rest of the city? > people beat up the car as it drives through That's an inevitable result of somebody trying to push through a crowd that won't move. If you sit there, nobody moves out of the way, and you hit the gas anyway, people will inevitably try to damage the car to make you stop again, because you could kill somebody doing that.
        6y ago
      - smsm42 6y ago
        The point is some places in some cities at some times carry high risk to whoever drives there. I consider it immoral for the company to force an employee (or contractor) to go to such high-risk place, and for that person I think makes complete sense to refuse going to such place and risk their assets (e.g. car) and their health for a relatively small payment. Portland, Seattle and Chicago are examples of the cities which had recently well-documented examples of some areas being dangerous and carrying risk of violent encounters.
    - staplers 6y ago
      I live in Portland and there isn't a single instance of your insane claim happening ever.
- core-questions 6y ago
  Amazing that you're downvoted. Are HN posters really so sheltered that they don't know that this is a reality in many major American cities? I'm sure it's in areas they never visit, for totally unspecified reasons, but it's real. There are areas (e.g. in Camden NJ) where the police will tell you to not stop your car for any reason, just get through and get out. Pretending this isn't a reality or that it doesn't have an impact on someone driving for a living is pretty asinine.
  - crooked-v 6y ago
    There's a major difference between 'unsafe because of high crime rates' (the actual case in some places) and 'unsafe because an entire mob of random people will manifest out of the ether, drag you from your car, and beat you up' (the nonsense part). The latter has been seeing increasing use lately as part of the endless barrage of 'all of (city name) is a flaming ruin constantly prowled by antifa supersoldiers' claims against the ongoing protests in several cities.
    - smsm42 6y ago
      It doesn't have to be "constant". It's enough to happen to you once to cost you tens of thousands of dollars, or your health, or, if you're very unlucky, your life. I've seen photos of people with firearms drawn stopping motorists at protests. You can talk all day about how it doesn't happen, but I've seen photos and videos of that happening. There's no way I would go to such place for $20/hr (Uber's average wage in SV, for example). It's just not worth the risk.
      - rabuse 6y ago
        Exactly, it's simple risk assessment. As much as people try to stay politically correct nowadays, it doesn't remove the most basic system we have, called survival. Life experiences and situations, creates these "stereotypes", and becomes widespread, because they are actual issues people try to avoid talking about, to not come off a certain way.
  - asdff 6y ago
- sixothree 6y ago
  It sounds like you're making assumptions that the driver cited a reason when he did not. Where from that comment did you get the driver feared being "assaulted by a mob, dragged out and beaten or shot, and their vehicle destroyed". Was it the part where he said it was racist?
- aslfksdfl 6y ago
  Crime in my city (and most of the country) is lower than it's ever been. I've literally never been denied a ride by traditional cab drivers.
mlrtime 6y ago
How is an area racist?
- kevingadd 6y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining
- whynotminot 6y ago
  The area wasn't, the driver was. Keep up!
- aslfksdfl 6y ago
  Not the area, the drivers. Boston is incredibly segregated and in the area I live in is less than 10% white. It's not a coincidence that this is the only area in the city I've ever had trouble getting a ride to (roughly 200 total rides).
  - zests 6y ago
    Which area?
  - drevil-v2 6y ago
    Maybe they were afraid for their own safety? I know when I visit the US, each city has it's no-go areas that you want to avoid. I remember my first time in Dallas many years ago pre-GPS era, drove somewhere for dinner, stopped to fill up petrol and get directions to my hotel and the service station attendant told me I should probably exit the area ASAP because it is not safe.
  - matuszeg 6y ago
    I lived in Boston a couple years before Uber was a thing and if I was out at night and needed a ride back to Southie (where I lived), it would take me four or five taxis at least to get one to agree to go there. Uber eliminated that problem. It would be terrible to go back to that system where drivers can just refuse you based on where you are going or what you look like.

smsm42 6y ago

If the part of the city is unsafe (as some parts of some major cities are frequently nowdays) to the point the driver risks being assaulted by a mob, dragged out and beaten or shot, and their vehicle destroyed - I see no reason why they shouldn't be able to refuse such ride. No ride worth your life, and unless you're paying 1000x the Uber rates, no ride is worth your car ruined.

timavr 6y ago
I didn’t know Uber is live in Syria.
- smsm42 6y ago
  It's live in Seattle, Portland and Chicago.
  - mrhyyyyde 6y ago
    Can you explain your point, the point is unclear. They're also live in other cities as well..?
    - dnissley 6y ago
      They're claiming that those cities are extremely dangerous. But in reality, that's just innumeracy.
      - DuskStar 6y ago
        I think someone attempting to get an Uber pickup (or getting dropped off by an Uber) in the middle of CHOP/CHAZ might have had some problems. Particularly at night. Or any "drop me off within the ongoing protest" ride, really.
        crooked-v 6y ago
        Problems? Sure. It's going to be hell to try and get in and out of the area, since you'll have to either go at about two miles an hour while people move out of the way (while regularly stopping and waiting for unorganized crowds), or just go around the long way. 'Getting dragged out of your car and beaten'? No, unless the police do it (https://www.newsbreak.com/georgia/atlanta/news/1577488884462/footage-shows-black-students-forcefully-dragged-out-of-their-car-and-tased-by-six-police-officers https://www.newsbreak.com/georgia/atlanta/news/1577488884462...).
        DuskStar 6y ago
        If you're going to include individual incidents, you should include the CHAZ/CHOP shooting, and the various "people beat up the car as it drives through" occurrences too. Sure, those cars may have done something to offend/anger/threaten the protesters, but...
        crooked-v 6y ago
        > the CHAZ/CHOP shooting The one where a man drove into protestors and shot one of them, or one of the four non-related-to-protest shootings in a neighborhood that had been suddenly abandoned by police and already had a high violent crime rate compared to the rest of the city? > people beat up the car as it drives through That's an inevitable result of somebody trying to push through a crowd that won't move. If you sit there, nobody moves out of the way, and you hit the gas anyway, people will inevitably try to damage the car to make you stop again, because you could kill somebody doing that.
        6y ago
    - smsm42 6y ago
      The point is some places in some cities at some times carry high risk to whoever drives there. I consider it immoral for the company to force an employee (or contractor) to go to such high-risk place, and for that person I think makes complete sense to refuse going to such place and risk their assets (e.g. car) and their health for a relatively small payment. Portland, Seattle and Chicago are examples of the cities which had recently well-documented examples of some areas being dangerous and carrying risk of violent encounters.
  - staplers 6y ago
    I live in Portland and there isn't a single instance of your insane claim happening ever.
core-questions 6y ago
Amazing that you're downvoted. Are HN posters really so sheltered that they don't know that this is a reality in many major American cities? I'm sure it's in areas they never visit, for totally unspecified reasons, but it's real. There are areas (e.g. in Camden NJ) where the police will tell you to not stop your car for any reason, just get through and get out. Pretending this isn't a reality or that it doesn't have an impact on someone driving for a living is pretty asinine.
- crooked-v 6y ago
  There's a major difference between 'unsafe because of high crime rates' (the actual case in some places) and 'unsafe because an entire mob of random people will manifest out of the ether, drag you from your car, and beat you up' (the nonsense part). The latter has been seeing increasing use lately as part of the endless barrage of 'all of (city name) is a flaming ruin constantly prowled by antifa supersoldiers' claims against the ongoing protests in several cities.
  - smsm42 6y ago
    It doesn't have to be "constant". It's enough to happen to you once to cost you tens of thousands of dollars, or your health, or, if you're very unlucky, your life. I've seen photos of people with firearms drawn stopping motorists at protests. You can talk all day about how it doesn't happen, but I've seen photos and videos of that happening. There's no way I would go to such place for $20/hr (Uber's average wage in SV, for example). It's just not worth the risk.
    - rabuse 6y ago
      Exactly, it's simple risk assessment. As much as people try to stay politically correct nowadays, it doesn't remove the most basic system we have, called survival. Life experiences and situations, creates these "stereotypes", and becomes widespread, because they are actual issues people try to avoid talking about, to not come off a certain way.
- asdff 6y ago
sixothree 6y ago
It sounds like you're making assumptions that the driver cited a reason when he did not. Where from that comment did you get the driver feared being "assaulted by a mob, dragged out and beaten or shot, and their vehicle destroyed". Was it the part where he said it was racist?
aslfksdfl 6y ago
Crime in my city (and most of the country) is lower than it's ever been. I've literally never been denied a ride by traditional cab drivers.

mlrtime 6y ago

How is an area racist?

kevingadd 6y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining
whynotminot 6y ago
The area wasn't, the driver was. Keep up!
aslfksdfl 6y ago
Not the area, the drivers. Boston is incredibly segregated and in the area I live in is less than 10% white. It's not a coincidence that this is the only area in the city I've ever had trouble getting a ride to (roughly 200 total rides).
- zests 6y ago
  Which area?
- drevil-v2 6y ago
  Maybe they were afraid for their own safety? I know when I visit the US, each city has it's no-go areas that you want to avoid. I remember my first time in Dallas many years ago pre-GPS era, drove somewhere for dinner, stopped to fill up petrol and get directions to my hotel and the service station attendant told me I should probably exit the area ASAP because it is not safe.
- matuszeg 6y ago
  I lived in Boston a couple years before Uber was a thing and if I was out at night and needed a ride back to Southie (where I lived), it would take me four or five taxis at least to get one to agree to go there. Uber eliminated that problem. It would be terrible to go back to that system where drivers can just refuse you based on where you are going or what you look like.