Every weekend at Choate, after five long days of quizzes, tests, and sports practices, dozens of students head to restaurants and movie theaters in town to relax. With only a small percentage of day students able to drive and rules against boarding students having cars on campus, the demand for transportation is huge. The main provider for such transportation? A company that hires complete strangers — namely, Uber.
With a net worth of more than $5 billion, Uber is an entirely consumer-driven service provider that benefits the most from people who don’t have cars — the most abundant source of such people being highschool and college students. The only requirements for being an Uber driver are that one must be older than 21 years of age, complete a background check, have a valid driver’s license and social security number, and have access to a four door vehicle. With many Choate students using Uber as often as three times a week, it’s important to ask whether or not these requirements are sufficient to keep the service safe.
This issue becomes even more apparent in light of the 15-year old girl who, returning from a party in Atlantic Beach, New York, was kidnapped and nearly assaulted by her driver. (She eventually escaped from the car when the driver stopped for gas.) According to Uber’s own regulations, “A rider must be at least 18 years of age to have an Uber account and request rides. Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by someone 18 years of age or older on any ride. As a driver-partner, you should decline the ride request if you believe the person requesting the ride is under 18.” However, many students have never been asked their age when entering an Uber driver’s car. In fact, there is little incentive for drivers to ask what age students are. If the driver declines a ride because of a rider’s age, the transaction is cancelled and the driver doesn’t make any money.
Some students believe that drivers are suspicious about the age of their riders, but the drivers don’t actually cancel the ride or ask to see an ID. “One time me and a group of friends were in an Uber driving back and the woman driving the car told all of us to sit in the back and not beside her,” recalled Ryan Lee ’22. This, combined with the carefree attitudes of some Choate students, ensures the survival of Uber as a business on Choate’s campus.
Uber provides invaluable service to Choate students, and as students have expressed, there is a constant need for its services. “I mostly use Uber to travel back and forth from restaurants and movie theaters on the weekends,” said Elton Zheng ’22. “Last year during spring term, I also used Uber to travel back and forth between tennis practices off campus.”
Access to Uber’s services does not seem to be an issue for many students at Choate. With rides further into Wallingford costing as little as seven dollars, this transportation service is the most logical option for students who don’t have parents nearby or access to a more expensive private transportation option.
According to Uber’s website, “The Uber experience was built with safety in mind. Through incident prevention tools, insurance coverage, and technology that keeps you connected, we’re dedicated to helping you move safely and focus on what matters most.”
Even though the company claims the app is a secure option for riders, it is not uncommon to hear stories on the news about people being assaulted by Uber drivers. According to CNN, 103 Uber drivers were accused of sexual assault or abuse in 2018.
Taxi cabs, in contrast to Uber, are easier to regulate because the company owns both the vehicle and the gasoline. With Uber, independent drivers own both. Some taxi cabs also have preventative measures such as alarms and alerts that allow the driver and rider to easily report misconduct. By adding more safety precautions like these, Uber may become a better and more accessible option for customers.
Choate’s Student Handbook states, “The School discourages the use of Uber and other ridesharing firms and advises families to check their terms of agreement before arranging rides or allowing their children to use such services.” However, the constant need to get somewhere off campus and into town may override the concern of safety for many students, potentially leading to dangerous situations. Choate students should keep an eye out for malicious behaviour from their drivers, but it is improbable that students will stop using the app. After all, with Uber being such an essential part of a student’s daily life, it would be hard to imagine a Choate experience without it.
