Uber is helping to reduce the number of drink-driving incidents in cities, a new report claims.
According to research by a US driving school, Uber’s entry into Seattle is estimated to have resulted in a 10% decrease in the instances of DUI arrests.
That’s based on data provided by Seattle police department, which revealed the city recorded 0.7 less DUIs per day following Uber’s entry.
The investigation, which was published by the ABC Driving School, also used "control" data provided by San Francisco police department.
The study calls the phenomenon the "Uber Effect", and says that there’s clear evidence of Uber’s positive impact on crime in cities.
“The basic econometric study provides proof that Uber’s service of safe, easily available rides have a meaningful impact on drink-driving arrests…in the cities they operate in,” writes Stephen Shaw, author of the report.
The findings are similar to those of a 2015 study by Philadelphia’s Temple University.
Researchers tracked alcohol-induced road deaths between 2009 and 2014, and found that the mortality rate fell by 5.6% in cities where Uber operates.
Uber now has more than 8 million active users, with upwards of 160,000 drivers operating in more than 400 cities.
The average number of daily Uber trips globally now sits at around one million, while the total number of trips taken so far is estimated at more than a billion worldwide.
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