Ride-hailing services may be driving up traffic deaths: study

The arrival of ride-hailing is associated with an increase of about 3 percent in the number of motor vehicle fatalities and fatal accidents, a study by the University of Chicago (UChicago) Booth School of Business found.

The researchers used the staggered roll-out dates from Uber and Lyft to review the eight quarters before and after ride-hailing adoption in large U.S. cities from 2001 to 2016, and analyzed traffic volume, transportation choices and accidents to arrive at the conclusion.

The documented increase in accidents appears to persist and even increase over time, and that rate has stayed steady through weekdays, weeknights, weekend days and weekend nights, showed the study posted on the website of UChicago on Tuesday.

For perspective, while in 2010 the number of roadway deaths in the United States stood at 32,885, the lowest level since 1949, that number increased to more than 37,400 in 2016. The introduction of ride-hailing services in 2011 accounted for a roughly 3 percent annual increase in auto deaths nationwide, or 987 people each year, according to the study.

Economic theory and the data point to many reasons for ride-hailing's contribution to the growth in traffic fatalities. Ride-hailing has put more cars on the road, and that has meant more accidents, injuries and deaths involving drivers, passengers, bikers and pedestrians, the study suggested.

The most significant increase in accidents occurred in larger cities, which saw a rise in new car registrations when ride-hailing was available, despite having public transportation systems. Meanwhile, in cities that have introduced ride-hailing, bike and pedestrian fatalities from accidents involving cars have increased at a similar rate to all driving fatalities.

"Surveys report that fewer than half of ride-hailing rides in nine major metro areas actually substitute for a trip that someone would have made in a car," the study stated.

The researchers also quantified the financial costs of the additional fatalities. Based on U.S. Department of Transportation estimates for the value of a statistical life, they found fatalities due to ride-hailing amount to about 10 billion U.S. dollars. That figure did not include costs from non-fatal accidents.

Ride-hailing certainly has undeniable benefits such as providing safe and affordable transportation options, more carpooling for riders and job opportunities for drivers, the researchers noted. But they also emphasized that "the annual cost in human lives is nontrivial."

The study pointed to the need for further research and debate about the overall cost-benefit tradeoff of ride-hailing, according to the researchers.