'Everyone rides together, and everyone leaves together': Uber drivers express gratitude for responsible riders

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Sponsored Content-- As an efficient way to help decrease DUI arrests and traffic-related deaths, many Uber drivers are sharing their appreciation for riders who are responsible enough to call rideshare and ask for a ride home.

Since the rise in popularity of ride-hailing services, many studies have shown an increase in safety for riders and drivers alike. And for part-time Uber driver Darnell Tillett in New Jersey, his experience as the "designated driver," has translated to his work with Uber. 

"So that's 100% one of the reasons why I do it...I am a veteran and one of my... responsibilities was, I don't drink," said Tillett. "And so I would take my troops to the clubs and I would pick them up. The only thing they had to do is everyone leave together. Everyone rides together, and everyone leaves together. And so it was my responsibility to pick those guys and gals up and bring them back home...So it's sort of like the same thing I do with Uber brings the people who are having too much to drink and who are responsible enough to actually call rideshare and ask for a ride home."

One report from the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2021 found that ridesharing services have led to a decrease in alcohol-related traffic deaths in the US by 6.1% and have decreased overall traffic-related deaths by 4%. The report utilized data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), as well as rideshare data from Uber. 

Numbers reported from New Jersey in 2019 saw that 129 people were killed in traffic accidents involving alcohol, which accounted for almost a quarter of all traffic fatalities that year, according to Responsibility.org. However, between 2010 and 2019, the number of people killed in alcohol-related crashes in New Jersey decreased by more than 20%.

According to Business of Apps, Uber customers increased from 93 million in 2020 to 118 million in 2021, with Uber drivers completing more than 6 billion trips in 2021, for an average of more than 17 million trips per day. More than 5 million people across the globe worked as Uber drivers in 2021.

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