Holiday Rideshare Tips To Keep You Safe

During the holiday rush, transportation will be one of the biggest concerns for most people. How do you get from one point to another? How fast is it to travel? Most especially, how safe is it to do so? If you don’t have your own car yet or are in a different country or state without your car, then you must be using ridesharing apps or public transport. 

With the holidays approaching, here are some ridesharing tips to keep you safe.

1.      Request A Ride In A Safe Place

68% of all consumer Uber trips take place in passenger vehicles, and with the holidays approaching, these numbers will increase. These ridesharing safety tips don’t just start when you’re inside the car already. Even before you start booking a ride, you need to make sure you’re safe.

As a rule of thumb, stay inside a safe place while booking your ride. It’s safer like this than booking right outside a building. Being indoors will prevent you from running into thieves along the road. Don’t stay outside holding your phone and attract thieves. In addition to that, wait inside until your driver has arrived.

2.      Make Sure You Get In The Right Car With The Right Driver

When your ride arrives, the next thing you must do is to make sure that it’s the right car and driver. There are times when the driver doesn’t match the car. At times, there are also some people who scam riders with the wrong driver

You can ask the driver to confirm their name before you start the ride. Your driver’s name will be displayed in the app. So, confirm your driver’s name first before anything else.

3.      Check The Ratings Of Your Driver

It is typical that when you are using a ridesharing app, both you and the drivers have ratings on the app. Use this to your advantage and check on your driver’s ratings. Usually, a rating that is 4.5 and higher is already good. If it is lower than that, then check out the comments to see if the driver is safe.

4.      Share Your Location

As a safety precaution, ridesharing apps have already set up their own safety features. One of them is the ability to share your location with your friends. By sharing your location, you can allow your friends to track your ride in real-time. Especially if you are traveling at night, you might want to share your location.

It’s very convenient to share your location on the app. You just need to click “share my location” or “share my ETA” and nominate a person who will track your trip. If ever something happens to you, someone will know about your exact location and whereabouts.

5.      Be Alert

Another safety tip is to be alert all the time. First, this means that you have to check and see if the driver is going the right way and adhering to road traffic rules. If you are not familiar with the route, you can follow the directions on GPS apps such as Waze or Google Maps. On top of that, stay awake when you share a ride with someone else.

If ever your driver strays from the suggested route, you could tell them the route you want to take. If ever you feel threatened, you should try to get out as soon as you can. This is your right.

6.      Be Cautious Of Information You Share

When you share a ride, your driver or fellow passenger might start chatting you up. Although it’s okay to exchange pleasantries, it’s best that you don’t give away too much personal information, such as your residence, contact details, place of work, or school. Remember that you don’t know these people, and they are strangers.

7.      Wear Your Seatbelt

While you might not be used to wearing seatbelts, it’s better if you wear one when you ride in someone else’s car. An accident might happen and having your seatbelt will lessen the risk of hurting yourself. Safety is always a priority even when it comes to ridesharing companies. As part of your passenger ratings, wearing your seatbelt is one of the boxes that the driver has to tick off.

Christmas will definitely be a busy time of the year, and you might need to use ridesharing apps to travel from point A to B. Keep these ridesharing tips at the edge of your sleeves. Safety first is a priority for everyone even when you use ridesharing apps during the holidays. These tips will serve as your guide when you travel around for the holidays.