Uber Driver’s SUV Crashes into Gas Station, Explodes in Ball of Flames

Megalith

Megalith

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And the hits just keep coming for the ride-hailing company. After clipping an Accord (which hit a tree and split in half), an Uber driver took his X-Terra SUV straight into a gas pump. Luckily, the passenger survived—I wonder how many stars she gave for this particular ride...

Witnesses said the SUV kept heading eastbound, and it appears the driver tried to brake then lost control. They said the SUV may have blown a tire. They said the SUV went airborne over a curb, through a parking lot, then plowed into a Shell Gas Station. The SUV missed two gas pumps, but hit a third and burst into flames, according to witnesses. Firefighters quickly put the fire out. A 40-year-old woman who was a passenger in the SUV was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. The SUV driver was evaluated at the scene for signs of impairment.
 
Despite the media attention, is it even remotely possible that Uber drivers, on average, are actually safer than other drivers?
 
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MICHAEL BAY

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The likely lawsuits from this will bring more attention to the employee vs contractor status of Uber drivers.
 
DeeFrag said:
That happens to me all the time in Grand Theft Auto. Honest mistake, just steal another car and find a prostitute to make it all better.
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I've been pretty impressed with what can be destroyed in that game. The first time I destroyed a gas station was a great moment.
 
Saw this yesterday. That station appears to be on a 30-35mph street, and the Xterra hits those pumps at what appears to be 40mph+. How?
 
Gweenz said:
Saw this yesterday. That station appears to be on a 30-35mph street, and the Xterra hits those pumps at what appears to be 40mph+. How?
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Um cause people don't follow posted speed limits at all time? People break the law. I know it is shocking. You probably like my mom that drives under the speed limit cause she thinks she going to get pulled over the sec she goes over.
 
Gweenz said:
Saw this yesterday. That station appears to be on a 30-35mph street, and the Xterra hits those pumps at what appears to be 40mph+. How?
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two words, gas pedal

Seen this a few times now but this is the first I've heard Uber mentioned. I give it 5 stars. One HELL of a RIDE!
 
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the_servicer said:
Despite the media attention, is it even remotely possible that Uber drivers, on average, are actually safer than other drivers?
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I just wanted to add, that if every taxi driver that got into an accident would get a headline, then we'd do nothing but read those every second.
 
Did anybody notice there was someone gassing up in the same lane on the left side pump? Methinks some delayed onset PTSD once they see the footage and how close they were to the fireball of doom!
 
Wouldn't it be more accurate to state the thread title as "Uber Driver Crashes SUV Into Gas Station, SUV Explodes in Ball of Flames" - I have to admit the moment I read the title my interpretation of it was "Why is an Uber SUV driving itself into a gas station?" and then I remembered that Uber is testing some autonomous vehicles somewhere in the world at this point in time, made me think that's what this thread was about.

Instead it's about a driver that pretty much should never be behind the wheel from what I gather, let alone being an Uber driver. :D And yes I realize there could be a vehicular mechanical issue for this whole event, hence the smiley there to mean humor with the previous sentence.
 
the_servicer said:
Despite the media attention, is it even remotely possible that Uber drivers, on average, are actually safer than other drivers?
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I guess it's possible, but it doesn't seem likely based on my experience with Uber drivers -- they generally don't seem familiar with the area, or able to follow the nice instructions their phone is giving them, even though they're staring at the phone most of the time. As far as I know, Uber doesn't do any driver training or even testing of ability -- as long as you have a nice enough car and a clean driving record and clean (ish) background check, they let you on, right? Uber doesn't seem to be a great job, so people are probably working long hours or other jobs and tired drivers are generally worse.
 
M76 said:
I just wanted to add, that if every taxi driver that got into an accident would get a headline, then we'd do nothing but read those every second.
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How often do taxi drivers plow into gas stations at 40+ mph?

Commercial drivers causing big accidents always makes the news.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
How often do taxi drivers plow into gas stations at 40+ mph?

Commercial drivers causing big accidents always makes the news.
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Think, please. Driving is the no1 vocation in the US, possibly the whole world. There are more than 3 million "professional" drivers in the US alone.

If all their accidents made the news you'd need multiple tv channels showing nothing else 24/7 to be able to cover them all. Unfortunately it's hard to tell just how many accidents they cause since statistics are only kept on fatal accidents. Which is strange to me, that is the only thing I could find on the net.

It's not like regular taxi drivers are held to so high standards.

There are only two boogeymans nowadays. Uber drivers and self driving cars. Their accidents always make the news. But they never mention or even bother to make a statistic on how many accident free miles do the average uber driver has, or the self driving car, compared to "regular" drivers.
 
M76 said:
Think, please. Driving is the no1 vocation in the US, possibly the whole world. There are more than 3 million "professional" drivers in the US alone.

If all their accidents made the news you'd need multiple tv channels showing nothing else 24/7 to be able to cover them all. Unfortunately it's hard to tell just how many accidents they cause since statistics are only kept on fatal accidents. Which is strange to me, that is the only thing I could find on the net.
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thank god for youtube.

i love russian dash cam videos.
 
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DukenukemX said:
Still fear having self driving cars? Also, a car that is badass is a bonus.
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It's going to take another 20 years for them to be affordable and another ten for people to know how to cost effectively fix them outside of a dealership.
The entire car maintenance field will have to be revamped from dealer to corner mechanics.
 
WorldExclusive said:
It's going to take another 20 years for them to be affordable and another ten for people to know how to cost effectively fix them outside of a dealership.
The entire car maintenance field will have to be revamped from dealer to corner mechanics.
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They've been saying the same thing for the past 15-20 years as more electronics crept into cars. Yet corner mechanics are still here, and more profitable then ever.
Self driving cars are not rocked science, well the software side of it is. But the corner mechanic won't fix the software ever. As they don't fix the software in any regular car either. They'll just replace damaged or faulty components and sensors, which are really nothing more than glorified parking sensors (more accurate, and more numerous but similar in form and function).
 
M76 said:
They've been saying the same thing for the past 15-20 years as more electronics crept into cars. Yet corner mechanics are still here, and more profitable then ever.
Self driving cars are not rocked science, well the software side of it is. But the corner mechanic won't fix the software ever. As they don't fix the software in any regular car either. They'll just replace damaged or faulty components and sensors, which are really nothing more than glorified parking sensors (more accurate, and more numerous but similar in form and function).
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I few of my clients are mechanics in upper class neighborhoods and they do major work on older cars all day.
New cars, oil change and brake jobs here and there. But when it comes to any electrical work or these 7+ speed transmissions, they refer you to the dealer.
Without a combustible engine, the demand for the corner mechanic will disappear.

A CS and ME major will need replace the blue collar mechanic for self-driving cars to remain on the road when it goes out of warranty.
There will be corner repair shops, but they will have college educated workers with graduate degrees, resulting in higher maintenance costs for the consumer.
 
There needs to be service where a Uber/Lyft like company brings you a car, the driver then moves to the backseat, and they let me drive it so I partially control my own fate. Humans are stupid, easily distracted and selfish and I only want to worry about them as existing traffic. Once at destination, pay the guy and they get back in the drivers seat and leave.

That said; I don't trust other peoples cars either, so I'll just drive myself in my level of comfort.
 
WorldExclusive said:
I few of my clients are mechanics in upper class neighborhoods and they do major work on older cars all day.
New cars, oil change and brake jobs here and there. But when it comes to any electrical work or these 7+ speed transmissions, they refer you to the dealer.
Without a combustible engine, the demand for the corner mechanic will disappear.
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Even if that was true and I'm not saying it is. What is your suggestion? Stop progress in order to cater to the established system?
It's like that on all fields, you either educate yourself or you fade into obscurity. You can't say that electric vehicles will be the end of car mechanics. It could be the end of rigid people living in the past unwilling to recognize that times change. Like an IT guy who is a perfect at his job, but he refuses to deal with anything more advanced than MSDOS 6.22 and Novell Netware.
 
That_Sound_Guy said:
There needs to be service where a Uber/Lyft like company brings you a car, the driver then moves to the backseat, and they let me drive it so I partially control my own fate. Humans are stupid, easily distracted and selfish and I only want to worry about them as existing traffic. Once at destination, pay the guy and they get back in the drivers seat and leave.

That said; I don't trust other peoples cars either, so I'll just drive myself in my level of comfort.
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That would be great, but what kind of idiot is going to let us do that? Zipcar is conceptually similar, but I don't think they do one way (much) and there's not many cars near me
 
WorldExclusive said:
I few of my clients are mechanics in upper class neighborhoods and they do major work on older cars all day.
New cars, oil change and brake jobs here and there. But when it comes to any electrical work or these 7+ speed transmissions, they refer you to the dealer.
Without a combustible engine, the demand for the corner mechanic will disappear.

A CS and ME major will need replace the blue collar mechanic for self-driving cars to remain on the road when it goes out of warranty.
There will be corner repair shops, but they will have college educated workers with graduate degrees, resulting in higher maintenance costs for the consumer.
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you do know that cars tell you exactly what's wrong with them now right?

a sensor is a sensor and codes will always be readable.

hell some cars e-mail you with issues they are having.
 
toast0 said:
That would be great, but what kind of idiot is going to let us do that? Zipcar is conceptually similar, but I don't think they do one way (much) and there's not many cars near me
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Never underestimate the desperate or stupid when it comes to getting paid for little effort on their part. Now the quality of cars that said person brings you?....... probably stolen, a college kid with a junker or other ne'er-do-well.

I realize this idea will never fly due to police assuming if you drive it, you own it and everything in the car liability wise (drugs, weapons, dead hookers, adobe products, etc)
 
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