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-   -   Uber Driver dozes off and I have to drive the cab back home (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/197681-uber-driver-dozes-off-i-have-drive-cab-back-home-3.html)

I have had this same experience twice. Once it was during a late night trip to Pune airport from home. I felt that the vehicle was getting slower and slower on an empty patch of road. Initial thought was that the vehicle is having some trouble, then I could see in the rear view mirror that the driver was sleeping. I shouted and he was alert for the rest of the trip. Raised complaint with Uber. Second case was during broad day light. Was coming from Viman Nagar to my office in noon time. I felt the car moving abruptly to the right and noticed the driver with closed eyes. Once again shouted and he was awake, but in a few minutes again he was closing the eyes. Shouted so much again, he was awake this time completely. After dropping me off, I told him not to accept any trips, please get some sleep. His immediate response was "aapko kuch takleef hua nahi na, phir itna kyu bol raha hei" (You didn't face any issue na, then why are you saying so much). I gave him earful for that query and raised complaint with Uber.
Both cases Uber refunded me the full trip charges. But no comments on any "action" taken to prevent this from happening again.

I have been in similar condition on a few occasions. We do not have Uber/Ola in Nepal. After I sold my Indica and before I bought Dzire, I was without a car for several months. I had to rent cars for trips. A few times, the car would be sent from another city a few hours away. As these rented cars make more money with more trips, the drivers used to be fatigued when they came to pick me up early in the morning for my trip (usually after driving through the night). I volunteered to drive several times. As that was a period when I was looking for a new car, that was an opportunity for me to test drive different cars for over a couple of thousands of kilometers together. So which one l liked the most among them(rented cars)? Swift Petrol.

This answer is shocking. For a technology company like Uber, to say they can't analyze or track data for things like a driver being online, etc is ridiculous. To be able to derive this data should be as simple as a flick of a switch for them.

Good on you to take the wheel. I've been in this situation though with a private, neighborhood cab provider. I knew he was nodding off from time to time but somehow could not muster the courage to ask or offer to take the wheel.

Tejas@perioimpl, it's good that you have highlighted this issue with Uber and here for the benefit of others as well, Uber should really take serious note of this and have a feature in place where after say X hrs. of driving in a day they shouldn't be allotted any more ride jobs for the day. Also being such a huge corporate they should have some mandatory periodic training or awareness workshops for the drivers in their bucket (If they don't have it already).

UPDATE:

Uber just reached out to me specifically quoting this thread. I knew they were very proactive on Twitter, but I'm surprised that they are monitoring Team-bhp as well.

They have of course refunded the money. Additionally they have blocked the driver from my account. So even if he is in my area and I'm looking for an Uber, he will not be able to connect to me. At first I thought, what difference does it make? It's not that he fought with me, but on second thought, it's good because he must have faced some backlash from this incident and I'd rather he not be associated with my account because my family also uses it for travel.

They also have put this particular driver's driving patterns on scrutiny and he will now be monitored more strictly.

Lastly, they have assured me that they are working on a system to monitor drivers for working hours but due to company policy cannot diverge further details.

I think the biggest problem is most of these drivers are on multiple platforms. They could have driven for 4-5 hours on Uber and then turned off the app on Uber and start driving for Ola for another 4-5 hours. How would Uber know that the driver has not taken rest during that time but has been driving on another platform?

Unless someone aggregates the data across these platforms, it is going to be very hard to come up with the analysis. Then also, there can be instances where the driver simply picks up passengers on the road without turning on any of the apps.

This is really shocking to see the driver dozing off and thanks to your presence of mind, you drove the car ensuring both your's and the driver's safety.

Back in 2011 - 2013, I used to work with Cognizant in Chennai and invariably I used to take the late night cab back home. There used to be a colleague of mine who used to travel with me in the cab most of the days. My residence was 40 Km away from work and my colleague's was a 15 Km further away. Since we board the cab late in the night, I used to drive the cab till my place and then the driver used to take over. The driver will get a good one hour sleep. He had to report back to duty after dropping us for early morning pick up from the work place. By this I used to make sure all of us are safe and I get to drive cars like Sumo, Tavera and Qualis which no one that I know of has and probably I would've never driven one in my life. lol:

And, for driving yellow board cars, you need the commercial driving license.

Something similar happened to an uncle of mine. They had to go to Nahargarh in jaipur from their home and they decided to call an Uber. The rout for that is through the congested walled city and up the hills. The driver was new and had started driving the Sedan that he bought just two days ago and was being extra cautious. Had they let him do the driving they would have reached in 1.5 hours. My uncle requested the driver if he could drive, the driver obliged..

Similar to my experience in an Ola cab while returning from Hyd Airport to my Home in Kompally after a post midnight arrival in Feb 2016.

The driver requested that we stop for a tea and smoke break midway and I obliged. Till then he was having real trouble in driving. I had thought of taking over the driving but was apprehensive about falling into traffic cops' hands without a commercial driving license.
After a rather longish break, we started and I was extra cautious. I sat in the front passenger seat & kept chatting him up till we reached my destination.
Then I gave him a piece of my mind.
After that I have always booked a Meru when making a late night/ early morning airport trip. These guys might be more expensive but at least they are not stretching like the Ola/Uber guys and since anyway my office reimburses the travel costs on official duty.

The first thing I do when I take late night or early morning cabs is ask the driver about his day, if he is tired, and dont hesitate to ask him if I should take the wheel. I usually cannot sleep when a stranger is driving for me.

So far it has not happened with Ola/Uber but few years back we had booked a Xylo for a Konkan trip with my friends and the driver was just back from another trip so had not slept well. He happily gave the keys of his boat and we reached our destination safely while he slept in the front seat. My girl-friend was arguing why I took the wheel when we are paying him for driving the car. I told her we can either argue while I drive or let him drive and pay him at our funeral :D Your choice !

I think it's Uber/Ola that's ridiculously the source of this problem. Most drivers I've spoken to do extra shifts to complete trips, so that they can achieve the next incentive criteria (x number of trips= x thousand). Uber/Ola doesn't care if they die or kills passengers trying to complete this target.

It should be the govt. who should be setting out norms for cab aggregators. But doesn't look like it's going to happen in the short term.

:OT But, for all those you have driven Ola/ Uber or any other yellow plate vehicle without a valid Commercial License, I hope you are aware that it is illegal and can land you in trouble if caught. We all know how the law works here. :Frustrati

But more importantly, it could lead to even more serious problems if an untoward incident happens.

That being said, I think it is a good idea to actually apply for a Commercial License so that we are on the safer side.

I once had a similar experience when I hired a Chevrolet Tavera to visit my native place with my family and parents. As we were nearing our place after about five hours of driving, I found the driver nodding his head, almost dozing off. Even though we had taken a lunch break only a couple of hours earlier. He must have eaten heavily, I thought.

I told him to pull over but he apologized and kept on repeating he will be alright henceforth. Who knows what long hours he had driven the previous night? Even though I had never driven anything bigger than a car before, I felt it will be safer if I drove and he took a nap. But he was reluctant to let me drive. Then I made him pull over near a roadside tea stall and nap for half an hour, and we took a small break. Time was on our side, it was still evening.

He slept for about 45 minutes, had a tea and a smoke, and drove us to our destination without further incident.

Good that you knew how to drive (sounds stupid to make such a statement on TBHP). But just imagine if the passenger was a senior citizen, or someone who for whatever reason could not drive.

Looks like it's called different things in different states but it's basically the same.

Yellow board vehicles need a Professional (Terminology in Goa)/Commercial/Transport/TR etc licence. Now if this Yellow board vehicle carries passengers you additionally need a badge. Badge is not required for goods vehicles.

This would be tricky for Uber to implement. A lot of cab driver-owner, used to have accounts on Uber and Ola. And some of them might be tied up with other cab aggregators / Travels. So there is never a way to track how much hours the guy is behind the wheel.