We’ve all seen a movie where cars were driverless.   Computer Controlled and GPS guided vehicles operating in cities of the future.

iRobot,  Minority Report, and Total Recall are just a few.   Sorry about the language!

 

The tide is turning in the ride share industry.  The companies are trying to make all of the money and get rid of unnecessary costs.   One of those costs happens to be drivers.

You’ve seen the commercials telling people that if they would like to make more money, they can drive and earn a bonus using their own cars, and it’s true!!!   I make good money driving and taking riders to where they need to go.   If i work 40 hours, it makes for an okay full-time job except for all the costs I have to pay for Insurance, maintenance, fuel and repair.

Every Driver for any ride share company, Lyft/Uber/Via, has to pay their for their own ride share insurance package which can cost $750-$1600 per year plus gas at about $50 every 3-5 days depending on how many hours and miles you drive.  Tune-Ups, Car Washes, minor and major repairs adds to the costs that a driver has to pay for.  No wonder  Taxi Cab company drivers are the way they are.  The company pays for their insurance, repairs and maintenance.   Oh and they usually own the cars.  Yellow Cab,  American Cab.

Anyways a little off subject there.   Driverless cars are coming and there is only one thing I am asking: “ARE YOU READY?”

Driverless cars are about to take away the jobs of thousands of people who made a choice to serve the fellow-man, using their own car for the little pay the receive.  Company gets 30% Driver gets 70%.

That aside, how about the rider?

Right now the rider requests a ride on an app on their phone.  Lo and Behold the app assigns a driver and shows you a picture of the driver, the driver’s name, a picture of the type of car to be looking for and the license plate number so the rider can verify the driver.  Have you seen the pictures of driverless ride share vehicles?  They all look the same.

Riders use pools or lines to share the costs with other riders.   How safe is that?   People are already afraid of the drivers, what about the riders?

Driverless cars will not protect you from pool or line riders you don’t know and have no idea what they look like.  So you are on your own as a rider.  Without a REAL driver in the front seat, who will a young girl feel safe in a pool or line with a few guys or men in the car with her?  She wouldn’t be able to cancel the ride and get out.

As a driver, I love ride sharing.   I meet new and interesting people.   I drove a former Chicago Cubs owner to a family dinner.  I drove on of the producer of Ghost Adventures to his hotel.  I drove editors of newspapers whose names I’ve seen on the evening News!  But what I really love is that when I as driver become a rider, I get to give back to fellow driver.   I know what they have to deal with, what they have to pay for and I appreciate them even more!

Driverless cars are NOT personal and can’t protect you.  Obviously, there will be cameras in the car to deter things from happening but some people will still do something for nothing even if cameras are there.  They do things in front of cameras all the time.

I’m asking that you voice your opinion via the apps you use.  I’m asking that you let ride share companies know how you feel about the idea of a driverless vehicle.  Some of you who read this will still back the idea of driverless cars but let me remind you…..many good people, who turned their lives around thanks to ride share,  will lose a lot of money if not the job.  Imagine UBER being completely driverless.   Lyft completely driverless.

The only people who will get richer will be top brass of the company, the board, and the 5 tech guys who maintain the software.  Sarcastic

I believe we need real live drivers behind the wheel.  It’s personal, safe and can be fun.