8 ms·
Here’s another thing no one talks about because it’s taboo: drink driving. Right up until the mid 70s, it was completely socially acceptable to drink and drive.
by rcarr 4y ago
Here’s another thing no one talks about because it’s taboo: drink driving. Right up until the mid 70s, it was completely socially acceptable to drink and drive. Now I agree that it was probably a good thing that’s it’s been banned, but having to pay for and organise transportation to go to whatever event it is you want to go to adds another substantial layer of friction to socialising. Not to mention the fact that the alcohol itself meant people were probably more sociable. It seems that due to all our technological and cultural change since the 70s we’re living physically healthier and safer lives but at the cost of poorer social and mental health.
- scarface74 4y agoUber makes things a lot simpler.
- polygamous_bat 4y agoMaybe, but it also adds a (let's say) $20+$20 to your bill at the end of the night. For a lot of Americans that's not exactly cheap.
- DangitBobby 4y agoMore like $50 there and $70 back.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- whiddershins 4y agoAlso, you can be banned from Uber. It is rare, but it can happen, and then what.
- midoridensha 4y ago"If you can't afford that price for a ride, plus a $50 tip on top for the hard-working driver, you're a piece of scum and you should just stay home." - typical liberal American "This is the Free Market at work, and if you can't afford it, you're poor and should just stay home. Poor people are subhuman trash." - typical conservative American
- trianglesphere 4y agoNot in rural areas. Maybe for suburbs. At least in SF ppl Uber a fair bit, but I suspect most trips on a night out are not replacing someone driving their own car.
- lmpdev 4y agoAt least here in Brisbane, Australia, it went from $5-10/ride at the peak of VC funding mania to $25-50/ride now
- rmccue 4y agoAt least it still beats the experience of taxis in Brisbane. Before Uber were allowed at the airport, I had multiple trips where drivers assumed I was a visitor and tried to take me on circuitous routes to increase their fares, and the experience after nights out was no better. Since the infinite funding stopped artificially holding prices low, I still found Uber cheaper generally speaking, and with a better experience. (I will say that my experience living in the UK does not hold the same; taxis here are generally better.)
- doublerebel 4y agoI agree. A DUI costs easily $10K regardless of outcome. Lost opportunity cost of not networking (job opportunity, friend opportunity, happiness, therapy) easily has the same cost over just a few years. Uber is very cheap in comparison… many people don’t make the comparison.
- ihateyouall123 4y agoI had a DUI. Cost me 3k-ish. It only cost 10k to hire an attorney who will tell you to plead guilty anyways. Money well spent...
- mrguyorama 4y agoIf you're in Wisconsin, you get a punch card. Tenth one's free!
- ihateyouall123 4y agoFound the rich person who thinks 50$ to go 8 miles is normal
- Gigachad 4y agoThis is why I love living in a city with a reliable train network. So many times I have left a party completely drunk late at night, and been perfectly able to manage my way back home. Seems like Americans are left with the choice to either risk killing someone/themselves driving home or just not going out.
- 72f988bf 4y ago> Seems like Americans are left with the choice to either risk killing someone/themselves driving home or just not going out. If only there was a service where you can pay money to be driven somewhere... I heard Americans invented these smartphones with apps, Maybe they can even invent an app-based version of that paid ride service!
- Gigachad 4y agoYeah if I had to pay $50+ (The actual price uber charges for this trip) to get home, I'd just stay home. Thankfully with a functioning public transport network, it costs me $4
- slothtrop 4y agoThat sounds like quite a distance.
- gnz11 4y agoTaxis are incredibly cumbersome to hail, if not impossible, in less dense areas. Uber is also relatively new on the scene in the grand scheme of it. You didn't always have that option.
- actionablefiber 4y agoIf I spend $15 on drinks then Ubering to and from has just at least tripled my cost of going out. If going out with friends costs $20 a head instead of $45, more people will want to do it.
- 4y ago
- earthboundkid 4y agoMove to Baltimore, my friend. There are at least six bars within five blocks of my house. You’d have to get pretty sloshed to not be able to make the walk back.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- coldtea 4y agoYeah, totally safe walking drunk in Baltimore at night...
- jonny_eh 4y agoLay off the Fox News
- coldtea 4y agoYeah, it's just Fox. Not official crime statistics. Or even Wikipedia: "The American city of Baltimore, Maryland, is notorious for its crime rate, which ranks well above the national average. Violent crime spiked in 2015 after the death of Freddie Gray on April 19, 2015, which touched off riots and an increase in murders. The city recorded 348 homicides in 2019, a number second only to the number recorded in 1993 when the population was nearly 125,000 higher." In context, the UK, with 65+ million people had like 700 for 2022, or around 60 times less per population...
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- lynx23 4y agoI don't understand why people like to bath in drama like this. Yes, there are statistics... But, to be a bit cynic, you can spend your whole life being afraid of everything. But you can not spend the rest of your death being sorry about the decision that led to your demise. IOW, I'd much rather have a burden-free life where I might be a little unlucky and die before I reach the average lifespan... Instead of being careful and afraid the whole time but very old and bored. Is it that my doctor told me that I have only a 50/50 chance of reaching the age of 30 that I see risks as a worthwhile thing to embark on. Or am I just stupid not wanting to waste my life with fear and not caring enough about becoming old?
- _trampeltier 4y agoIn another discussion about birth rate, somebody wrote something like this here in HN. "It's a lot safer on the street since we drink less and drive. So this saves many lives. But since we drink less, we meet less people and we make fewer children. But this "never born" children are in no statistic."
- lexapro 4y agoA person being killed and a person not being born are not the same thing at all.
- _trampeltier 4y agoI did not say "does not matter / it's the same". It was more like a point, how one thing (less alcohol) might does influece something else (fewer children).
- EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 4y agoIt's still completely socially acceptable to drink and drive, at least in "redneck" parts of the country.
- yunwal 4y agoNot even redneck. Basically anywhere without public transit/uber people will get fairly drunk and drive.
- jeffreyrogers 4y agoYeah, you're getting downvoted but this is true in rural/semi-rural areas.
- mcv 4y agoAnother good argument for walkable cities and good public transportation.
- mrguyorama 4y agoIt's still "totally acceptable" to drink and drive pretty much anywhere in small town USA. The cops won't even pull you over. Unless you are poor.