The new Uber feature which drivers warn is ‘putting passengers at risk’ | Tech News

A ‘dangerous’ new Uber feature is putting the safety of passengers, pedestrians and other road users at risk, Uber drivers have said.

Drivers claim that Uber’s ‘trip radar’ tool distracts them while on the road and has hurt their income.

The App Drives and Couriers Union (ADCU) has launched a petition calling for the driving company to stop using the system, which allows drivers to browse multiple offers at a time and bid for rides against other drivers.

Trip radar, which was rolled out in London over the last three months but has been used in airports and other parts other UK for over a year, forces drivers to bid against each other for rides while on the road.

The feature can send multiple trip offers at one time for drivers to scroll through, and gives more information about a ride compared to the old system.

Uber has told drivers that they only display the most distracting ‘full selection of trips’ when cars are stationary or below 4 miles per hour, a claim that has been disputed by some drivers and the union representing them.

Other drivers reported being flooded with Trip Radar offers at traffic lights and as they slow down for corners, while the competitive nature of the tool means the drivers said they feel pressured to look at their phone and respond to potential bids as quickly as possible.

Trip Radar also leaves drivers in limbo for up to 30 or 40 seconds as they wait to be told whether a ride has been allocated to them, which they complain has caused them to miss crucial turnings or exits.

The App Drives and Couriers Union also argue that Uber are using Trip Radar to offer rides to the ‘lowest bidder’, driving down earnings and profitability for their members.

‘It is only a matter of time until someone loses their lives,’ the General Secretary of the ADCU has warned.

Zamir Dreni, who has worked as a private hire driver for 25 years, told Metro: ‘For me it is a disaster waiting to happen with the roads being congested and the number of cyclists.

‘I have received complaints from drivers left, right and centre.

‘It is so distracting and dangerous, because you have to check: how much is the job, where is it going, is it the right price.

‘Then you have to beat yourself up that you could have got it for a higher price.

‘Uber is playing around with drivers by initially giving you six or seven jobs at the same time. The job is not guaranteed. Imagine how distracting that is when you are driving.’

Dreni said the old system, in which Uber only sent exclusive offers to drivers, was far ‘less distracting,’ as it was only ‘take it or leave it’.

‘Now, you know you are being played against other drivers, the job is not guaranteed because everyone is bidding for it,’ he said.

‘I was in St Pancras the other night and the phone was going mental with the amount work coming through.

‘I was like “what should I take? What is going on here?”. Imagine if I was driving.

‘Thank god I was responsible and not driving but others are not.

‘Next thing you know you are going to knock over a cyclist, or a pedestrian or hit the back of another car. It is too much.’

‘It is only for greed and only for money and nothing else. The company just maximises the profit and disregards everyone’s health and safety and everyone’s livelihoods. That is how I see it as a driver.’

Dreni claimed that he has been offered up to 10 Trip Radar jobs while driving.

Uber say they scale back Trip Radar when a driver is going beyond 4mph in the UK, but Dreni claims that the GPS speed detection on a phone is not accurate enough for this to work in practice.

An Uber-driving influencer on TikTok and Youtube, Private Hire Mike, told Metro that he and others drivers are frequently distracted by Trip Radar when travelling below 15mph and when they are waiting to take a turn or stop at traffic lights.

‘You get a feeling that you need to react quickly or the job will go away. It is like fastest fingers first.

‘It is manipulating drivers to make them feel like they have to accept a job really quickly, but at the same time it allows Uber to drive the prices lower.’

‘It is too much information coming all at once – it is not a safe practice.’

A number of other drivers have contacted him to say that they have almost had accidents after having their attention drawn away from the road by Trip Radar.

The distraction does not end when you bid for a ride, he argues, it continues as you wait for a ride and then wait for the GPS information to load.

Private Hire Mike, who has been a driver for Uber since 2019, has his own petition asking Uber to remove the tool from drivers’ apps.

Another Uber driver in London with more than 10 years experience, Farah Musa, told Metro that trip radar has ‘completely changed things.’

Since he first received Trip Radar a few weeks ago, he sometimes gets ’10 or 15 jobs in one go’, although he said that when driving with customers he only receives ‘exclusive’ jobs.

Musa said: ‘There is no way you can concentrate, as your attention is on if you got that job.

‘Before it shows you within seconds where you are going. Now it takes 30 or 40 seconds to show you which route you are going to take.

‘It is very dangerous. Your mind is on the phone, not on the road.’

He said he has felt distracted by Trip Radar ‘so many times’ and has to pull over to deal with the system because it is that ‘time consuming.’

Musa believes that the ‘competition’ is integral to Trip Radar ‘is not good when you on the road.’

ADCU’s petition calling for an end to Trip Radar currently has over 1,000 signatures, with many Uber drives commenting to say they support the move.

Despite this, Musa is not optimistic that his employers will change things.

‘Uber pretend they are listening, but they are not,’ he said.

The petition also complains that Trip Radar is damaging the income of Uber drivers.

Trip Radar shows different drives different prices for the same ride, and members from the ADCU have tested the system and believe it always allocates a ride to the driver willing to pay the lowest price.

‘Everyone’s income has dropped down,’ said Kamil Karakus, ADCU’s London Chair.

‘They are changing the prices for each driver.

‘I am trying to earn money from this job. My life and my family’s life depends on this job.

‘Maybe in a busy area, you will receive 300 requests and accept one. The prices are too low and the jobs are too far away. Of course I am losing money.’

He claimed that he was once given a job 35 miles away at Stanstead airport for £50, offering the journey to him at a low price instead of offering it to all the drivers who would have been waiting in a queue for rides at the airport itself.

Another London-based Uber driver told Metro that he had to work double shifts to now make up for the shortfall caused by trip radar.

An analysis by GMB Union has also argued that Trip Radar ‘represents a significant risk to the safety of Uber drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and other road users.’

‘The increased demand for interaction with the app will inevitably lead to heightened distraction and reduced driver alertness, as substantiated by the findings from the BMJ study.’

Metro has contacted Uber for comment.