back to article Wow, braking news: Overworked, tired ride-sharing drivers declared a public health risk

Dozy ride-share drivers juggling multiple jobs are putting people's lives at risk, according to a statement from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) in the Journal of The Bleeding Obvious Clinical Sleep Medicine. While Uber’s self-driving cars have taken a bit of a bashing, in recent weeks the AASM’s department of …

  1. Youngone Silver badge

    Exploitation

    These gig economy jobs seem to me to be based on the exploitation of somebody.

    If management can't exploit the customers they have to exploit the workers.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Exploitation

      of course they do, this is the problem with the world today. I'll give you an example, step-daughter works in a kids play centre and is on a zero hour contract and she has been "let off" work early without pay three times in the past month even though the zero hour contract is supposed to be temporary. I think the term for this is late stage capitalism though to be clear I'm no marxist before I get berated by all the capitalist pigs.

      1. Peter2 Silver badge

        Re: Exploitation

        The problem is supply and demand. When there are too many workers available, then the price drops. When the price reaches rock bottom, then working conditions suffer instead. The gig economy is a result of deep digging into employment protections and working conditions.

        If we had a moderately health labour market, then there would be competition on working conditions and people wouldn't work for the worst employers, and employers at the extreme low end of the labour market would have to either increase working conditions, or go bust as a result of losing all of their staff to the competition.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    El Reg ..... you stole my Headline !!! :)

    See:

    https://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2018/03/07/hackers_create_ghost_traffic_jam_to_confound_smart_traffic_systems/#c_3446685

  3. The Nazz

    Growth, growth, growth ad nauseum

    Growth isn't the be all and end all and certainly not all it's cracked up to be.

    It brings a multitude of problems, many of which are close to bringing civilised society to a tipping point.

    Peak happiness is well past.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Growth, growth, growth ad nauseum

      Don't be silly, while there has been growth the world has got consistently better. The current slip in living standards for young people vs the boomers at least, is due to a lack of growth not an excess of it.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Devil

    Why it should be ok for a Lyft driver to spend an additional two hours behind the wheel

    Uber drivers wear themselves out more quickly sexually assaulting passengers?

  5. JustWondering
    Unhappy

    Of course ...

    ... you have to consider that many people can't drive at the best of times and sleep deprivation doesn't seem to help with that.

  6. Big_Boomer Silver badge

    Self drive crash

    I have just one question about the crash where the self drive Uber killed that poor woman. If the car had had a human driver, would she still have been hit? From what I saw of the video, probably. If we have to wait for "perfect" self-drive cars, they will never happen.

    As for the "gig" economy,it suits a few people, but the majority are working 12-16 hours per day just to make ends meet. If they were employed that would be illegal and prosecutions would ensue.

    1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

      Re: Self drive crash

      Being killed by an unattended driver is not exactly a novelty since a long time ago.

      The car did have a human driver, who was not looking at the road for just long enough to become a killer. The fact that the system was unattentive as well is why the story got attention.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Self drive crash

      The problem is "what you saw of the video" was modified by Uber, shifting the gamma way off the mark so the scene looked as dark as possible. This wasn't in the outback on a moonless night, it was in a major city with streetlights. She would have been far easier to see than the doctored video makes it appear.

  7. JWLong

    Ha......

    This is nothing but news trying to promote automated vehicle systems by saying that human drivers are fallible by default.

    1. Francis Boyle Silver badge

      Everything's fallible by default

      Human drivers are worst than that.

  8. Arthur the cat Silver badge

    Full time drivers doze off too

    I've had full time taxi drivers pick me up from an airport and then start microsleeping while driving on the motorway before now. It doesn't matter whether it's a primary or secondary job, you simply shouldn't be driving when tired. We need cars that detect doziness and apps that check reaction times.

  9. T. F. M. Reader

    NHTSA statistics...

    ...are not quite consistent with the article's message, IMHO. The 803 drowsy-driving fatalities in 2016 actually mean a 3.5% YOY decrease, and that despite a 2.2% YOY increase in vehicle-miles.

    If proliferation of ride-sharing causes more drowsy drivers to endanger road users I do not see it reflected in the data.

    No, this does not make me a fan of Uber or its ilk.

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