Culture
The Murky Etiquette of Ride-Hailing Services
Lyft and Uber are somewhere in between cruising with your pals and a chauffeur. How do you navigate the social norms of the on-demand driving economy?
Harry Campbell is used to people throwing up in his car. He's also shuttled around amorous couples who were going at it in the back seat. The Los Angeles-based Uber and Lyft driver says there's not much he can do. As a driver—especially working the post-bar crowd—you've got to be ready to pull over, look for warning signs (like a user who can't drop a pin properly to save his life, or an especially belligerent person) and keep Ziploc bags handy.
Really, the onus is on the passengers to stop behaving badly. But ride-hailing services have complicated what used to be a notoriously impersonal dynamic. It's no longer as simple as hailing a taxi, sitting in silence, and hopping out.