Hailing a ride with a stranger can be a gamble. This why Uber promises complete safety in regards to their drivers, although they are sometimes wrong. But not only passengers have to be protected from the drivers, sometimes, the drivers require a bit of extra protection. The company employed several ways of protecting their drivers, including Uber installing Bop It toys for drunk passengers.
- Uber operates in 58 countries and 300 cities all over the world
- Bop It are toys similar to the Simon says toys, having the user follow a series of commands
- Drivers from North Carolina are the ones that had the toys installed
- The company did it so as to stop drunken passengers from distracting the drivers
- Drunken passengers have been abusing Uber drivers in a whole variety of ways
Tired of their drivers having to put up with unseemly behavior from their drunken passengers, the Uber branch from the North Carolina city of Charlotte decided to do something about it.
And since drunken passengers – or at least the drunken passengers that bother the drivers – behave pretty much like children, what better way to keep them distracted than to install a children’s toy.
Despite the company having a two- way rating system, with the users rating the drivers and vice-versa, some customers, especially when tipsy, decide that they don’t care.
Multiple videos have appeared on the internet showing aggressive and bordering on violent behavior directed towards Uber drivers, and some forums are full of these drivers complaining and venting about their drunken passenger of the night, and even giving advice to other drivers on how to deal with the inebriated nuisances.
The Bop It toys are similar to the old Simon Says toys in function, although their design and complexity have evolved since the ‘90s.
The toys feature a series of knobs, levers, buttons, and similar stuff which the player has to pull, push, turn, etc. in a variety of ways in order to test their coordination and rhythm.
Other attempts at calming down tipsy travelers have been made in Seattle, where some cars had mirrors installed in the backs of the passage seats.
This way, the passengers will see themselves react drunkenly, and will most likely calm down, as they become more self-conscious about what they are doing.
Uber has been attempting to enhance their users’ experience lately with a variety of factors including an entertainment app, as well as using the car’s functions to keep track of speeding drivers.
Image source: Wikimedia
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