[GeneralJazz]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Too much generalization? Bad drivers exist period. Could be autos, trucks, buses, cabs, mercs and jags and what not.

Perhaps the number of uber/ola in kerala is not that high but still think it would be unfair to paint them all with the same brush and colour.

I agree. I find most of the Uber drivers to be good, or atleast better drivers compared to autos/local taxis. One reason could be that most of the new Uber drivers in Ernakulam these days have come from the outskirts. Uber taxis registered outside Ernakulam are already a hated lot with the local autos/taxis waiting for a reason to pounce on them. Rash driving could easily lead to them being cornered by the local drivers, who suddenly seem to assume the role of a model driver. Or maybe because these new Uber guys have no clues about the routes!

Either case, I'd say that these guys are better than the local auto-wallahs. At least for the time being.

[Chetan_Rao]

These drivers didn't drop out of thin air. While their necessities for driving may be different than a run-of-the-mill private car owner, they're both products of the same system of driver training, so I'm not sure the 'most cabbies are bad drivers' argument is any more or less valid than 'most drivers on our roads are bad drivers'.

[Tanveer_2558]

I had recently posted the same issue regarding bad driver's, Suddenly i feel our old Auto and Taxiwala's were better off, Atleast they used to trouble while crawling traffic and once you pickup pace they couldn't keep up, These Ola/Uber Drivers with peppy engines will even over take you rashly, Cut several lanes at a time, Tail gate you even at 100 + Speeds! I really hope some strict rules are imposed on this, If the vehicle can be equipped with GPS, It can very well equipped with a speed limiter or least a speed check, Right now it feels like taxi and Auto wala's has been giving peppy engines to play around with their life and others, Anyone else seen the amount of Ola/Uber taxi's involved in accidents recently? I have seen quite a lot infact!

[reignofchaos]

More than anything I feel bluetooth should be made mandatory on these Uber/Ola cars and the drivers must be obliged to use it.

Most of the idiots I see with these cabs are the ones constantly jabbering with phone in hand or are those that are stopping in the middle of the road trying to find an address.

If bluetooth is made mandatory. At least both their hands would be on the wheel instead of the distracted driving they do right now.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Too much generalization? Bad drivers exist period. Could be autos, trucks, buses, cabs, mercs and jags and what not.

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

I'm not sure the 'most cabbies are bad drivers' argument is any more or less valid than 'most drivers on our roads are bad drivers'.

Absolutely agreed. This is too much of a generalisation & similar to other myths (all BEST bus drivers are rogues, all black Scorpios are driven rashly, all Duke 390s are illegally racing....).

I will say that Uber & Ola drivers are as good or as bad as any Indian driver on the road. Further, as Aravind posted:

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

But since most of them have to own the car, they are a little more responsible while behind the wheel.

They definitely care about the car. Of the last 20 or so rides I've taken, I remember only 1 driving badly.

[GJ01]

My use of Uber / Ola / Meru / Other call cabs (in that order of frequency of use and preference) has mostly been for Airport pickups and drops - with a few instances of intercity trips in the weekend to areas I know are going to be a parking nightmare. I would say 50 % of all my cab rides have been in Ahmedabad - remaining in Mumbai, NCR, Bangalore, Chennai.

All in all, I have seen the drivers being well behaved and well mannered. Agree with comments that my share of unruly / unkempt cars and drivers (they usually come together as a package) has been more in Ola / Meru. Conversely, I have also had examples (once in Gurgaon, 2 - 3 times at Bangalore) when the drivers were quite well educated owners putting in time when their drivers bailed out on them. Only once have I rejected the ride because the cab quality was very bad (Ola)

A few other items that others have pointed out, I have never had a personal experience of. (I have been using these cabs atleast for the last 3 - 4 years)
Have never been asked by the driver to give them a 5 star rating
Have not observed drivers going slow deliberately, taking longer routes
If I am in the mood of striking up a conversation, I understand from them how their payments work (I was told the latest @ Uber was 1.3 times fare from 2300 - 0800, 1.7 times from 0800 - 2300 - plus a bonus on getting 15+ trips) - many of these cabbies are happy with the way they are earning their income and see this as a step up in their job.

I dont recall having spoken with drivers - all of them were owners running their own cars. I, personally, feel that these services are a step up from the earlier alternatives of autos, especially given the comfort and not having to haggle prices

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

More than anything I feel bluetooth should be made mandatory on these Uber/Ola cars and the drivers must be obliged to use it.

Most of the idiots I see with these cabs are the ones constantly jabbering with phone in hand or are those that are stopping in the middle of the road trying to find an address.

If bluetooth is made mandatory. At least both their hands would be on the wheel instead of the distracted driving they do right now.

This part is true. Even in Uber (specifically only in India), I have had to actually remind and request the drivers on several occasions, NOT to talk on the phone while driving. Stated quite clearly that my life was worth a lot to me and I didn't want to chuck it away because he was busy yakking to some dam fool friend of his on the phone while driving. They immediately obliged by stopping the conversation and looking sheepish.

I dislike the way they take for granted that people will not mind or will be too embarrassed to object to this talking on the phone while driving!

[drmohitg]

Another issue with the bad driving, apart from it being in our genes, is that most of them are relatively new to driving, at the least driving in Metro city traffic. Almost 50-60% of Uber drivers in Delhi NCR are young chaps who have migrated to the city only recently when their friends/family told them that this foreign company has set foot in India where you can earn 1L + driving a taxi. This lure of unheard salaries ( according to the average pay scale in our country) has made these guys come to metro cities and as a result two things happen:

1. They are unfamiliar with new technology like Google maps.
2. They are unfamiliar with our roads and have no direction sense. This is further complicated with the flyovers and underpass mazes that have come up now in most cities.
3. They are unfamiliar with such high volumes of traffic and have no idea what to do.
4. They are unfamiliar with most driving rules and only know how to make the car roll and then come to a halt.

On a side note I read that Uber and Ola drivers are striking in Bangalore against futher hiring of drivers/cabs as its hurting their salaries now. I feel this is more apt to be defined as "new age autowallahs" since they were so used to striking for everything. I have myself encountered this on almost all my recent rides with Uber where the drivers are grumbling that there is a surplus now and they are finding it tough to make money and sustain their EMIs. One problem here is that these companies enabled the initial batch of drivers to earn insane salaries. Ofcourse it was expected that these figures would not be sustainable in the long runs. So now a driver even making around 30-40k per month is not happy ( although for a Taxi driver that is a phenomenal salary according to me). The problem is further compounded as the companies are now paying less bonuses and freebies and also are tightening up the loopholes which many drivers used to exploit and increase their number of trips falsely.

Last but not the least, I still feel they are much better compared to autowallahs and those black and yellow cabs. Hence voted accordingly on the poll.

[autospeaker]

I wish there was a third option - " Few of the Uber/Ola drivers are harsh and brainless".
Being a frequent user of these cabs, I can safely tell that not ALL of them are morons. Decent, calm and follow-the-rule guys are also there. But as I said, there are a bunch of guys who really don't deserve to drive on the road. I think the lack of knowledge on their part is to be blamed. They would just know how to operate a car, not to "drive".

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

But since most of them have to own the car, they are a little more responsible while behind the wheel.

Yes, most of them own the car, which is one of the reasons they drive slower than a lot of others, hogging the right lane and without a care for other road users. There have been umpteen instances when I've felt as though they were driving in "trance mode" lugging the engine in a futile effort to extract FE.

Driving slower than normal is NOT responsible driving or convenient to the passenger.

[airbus]

I have seen another issue is that many of these drivers use to talk on mobile phone without using hands-free while driving. While trying to find a pick up location, good number of these drivers drive too slow, with one hand on the steering wheel, other hand holding a mobile phone and eyes scanning 180+ degrees, slowing down the traffic behind.

[F150]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

1. Driving rashly to maximise their rides.
2. Ensure good ratings by picking up passengers right from their pick up points even if it means blocking a narrow road.
3. Driving slower than other traffic to make more money per minute spent by the passenger/maximise FE (which doesn't happen anyway).
4. Parking carelessly blocking traffic while sitting in the cab.
5.Reversing on a flyover/clover leaf because the map in their app guided them wrongly.
6.Displaying hooliganism on the roads due to their "gangs" being formed now.

1. Sometimes they do it, but they slow down when I ask them to. So the person who is taking the ride can ask them to slow down if they notice that the driver is speeding.
2. It is the people who insist that the driver comes to the door step. It is unfair to blame the driver.
3. 1 in a 50 rides may be. I remember only 1 driver in 2016 who did this.
4. Even personal car users do it. So why blame only the cab drivers ? The law enforcement has to be strict.
5. Never seen it.
6. Agree, in this case they appear like modern autowallahs

[mvadg]

I didn't vote because I'd like to see a third option - "They drive and behave like the average Indian"

[noopster]

Voted No. Uber/Ola drivers are fairly decent and well-behaved from my experience.

But even as I voted, felt a vague sense of disquiet at the way this question poll has been framed especially when viewed alongside the subject of this thread.

OP's question is based on the premise that all autowallahs are "a menace on the roads". The moment you answer the poll, either Yes or No, you are agreeing with that premise. It's what's called a "double-barrelled question", something on the lines of "When did you start beating your wife?" In short there is no answer that allows you to get past the basic premise, which is that you beat your wife. Or in this case, that auto drivers are a menace.

I grew up in suburban Mumbai and autos were our lifeline (they still are for a lot of my family and friends who still live there). In other cities, autos still perform a valuable role in transporting the lower- and middle-class population affordably and efficiently. Are they dangerous? Sure! Do some of them indulge in dangerous driving? Hell yes! But that is true about any class of vehicle in India, from bicycles to 18-wheelers. Yesterday a spanking new C-class cut right from a side road onto the main road where I was driving without looking and nearly ran me off the road. Do I jump to the automatic conclusion that all luxury car drivers are a menace?

I am a big fan of the Uber/Ola model and ever since I have started using their services, have virtually reduced by auto usage to zero. For me the convenience of the pick-up, transparency and ease of payment and the fact that I don't have to hear "No" to any destination I quote is enough reason to. But all these as easy to adopt for autorickshaw drivers as taxi guys. In fact one of my earliest experiences with Ola was with Ola Auto and it was extremely positive.

Sorry for going off-topic but I really think that needed to be said!

[luvDriving]

Originally Posted by noopster

For me the convenience of the pick-up, transparency and ease of payment and the fact that I don't have to hear "No" to any destination I quote is enough reason to.

I think this would be true for anyone from Pune at least since it seems the auto guys do not want to go anywhere anymore be it a long distance, short distance, day or night.

I voted in favour of the ola/uber guys too. My wife travels almost daily by Ola share and I am a more infrequent customer. I think a more suitable question would have been - Are Ola/Uber moving towards becoming autowallahs ? to which I will say Not Yet but it seems inevitable more in terms of the driving sense.

If more autowallahs are converting to Ola/Uber drivers then this seems even more probable but for now, it is certainly a very good option than pursuading autowallahs. It is also safer to be inside a car being driven rashly than being inside a rashly driven auto (of course in city traffic).