How does Race Affect Ridesahare (Uber Lyft) Driver Ratings

The modern world doesn’t even step inside a restaurant without reading the reviews first. Before buying a pair of slippers, the buyers scroll down to read the comments. With time reviews have gained such importance that now social media companies use it as a promotional tool. The instinct to check the review does not mean that the buyers doubt their decision-making ability, it is just a way to make a wiser decision.

Though it makes all the difference, the human race is afraid of the road not taken. The constant fear of failure restricts people to explore the unknown. It is one of the reasons why everyone turns to the reviews. They want to be sure that they are making the right decision. Too many low ratings, thus, mean bad news for a product or a restaurant.

The luxury to choose is not available for the Uber passengers. They have no way of reading drivers review before or after booking a ride. They can only hope to get a good driver. However, the Uber passengers have the power to make or break a driver’s career. How is this possible you might be wondering, right?

As a Uber rider, you will be asked to provide the rating to the driver. You might think that a poor rating means nothing and no action will be taken, but, drivers with consistently bad ratings and reviews don’t sustain for long. Uber gets rid of the drivers if the ratings continue to slide.

The drivers must maintain a steady rating of 4.5 or above to stay on board. Do you realize the implication? Yes, even a 4 rating is not good enough for an Uber driver. To stay on board with Uber, a driver must display ratings of 4.5 or better yet, higher rating.

Each Uber driver goes through a thorough background checking and in some cases like for Uber and Lyft, they even have to appear for a test drive. However, passing these two tests are not enough when the drivers are on the road. There will still be some challenged to overcome for them. One of the immense challenges is the rating system which has been wisely devised to identify the bad drivers.

The Good, The Bad and The Reality
On paper, the rating system sounds like a good enough process. How else will the company be able to maintain a good reputation? However, the system comes with a significant shortfall like any other systems in the world.

The concept of the rating system is innocent – good rating for good drivers and a bad rating for bad drivers. However, there is a sinister ploy which ruins the objective of the rating system. The devisers of the rating scheme have not considered that drivers can be rated unfairly. Yes, this does take place. Some passengers provide bad rating without any proper cause. Such a snide approach is beyond control and drivers are powerless to stop it. Drivers’ race and their sex play a significant role in getting bad ratings. These two elements are something, which no one can control, neither these have anything to do with driving, yet some passengers rate depending on these two aspects.

Human beings by nature want the association of same race. There is nothing wrong with this instinct. It is difficult to determine how far the concept of rating based on race and sex is appropriate. But, some stories tell the unpleasant tales of biased behavior based on race and gender.

Some Advantages
Caucasian drivers are fortunate to get good ratings because most of the Uber passengers are Caucasian, and that puts the drivers with the colored skin at a disadvantage. Drivers who don’t speak proper English and those who are not US born citizens are not so fortunate as to get instant liking of the passengers. The initial disliking usually plays a negative role at the time of rating.

Frankly, when it comes to ratings, most of the Uber riders would not care about anything else but the driving skill. Mostly they would rate you based on the way a driver drives the car. However, there are always those riders who would form a negative opinion based on the fact that the driver is different from them. When the ratings come from this belief, it results in bad ratings for the drivers.

Does Bad Rating Matter
Yes, to some drivers bad rating matters because of multiple reasons. Some drivers treat Uber and Lyft as their secondary income. However, there are drivers, for whom this is the only source of income. These drivers worry about low ratings because there are cases of drivers getting fired from the company due to low ratings. Some of the drivers thrown off board might just be bad drivers. Or, they could be the victim of unfair rating as well. It would be better if the company creates a review board for the drivers who had been laid off. Everyone deserves a second chance in life. The Uber drivers too must be given another shot at the driving job. Additionally, it will provide the drivers an opportunity to reform themselves.

Though most drivers are capable of high ratings, some drivers must work a little harder to get high ratings.

Drivers complain about getting low ratings, and most might wonder why these people are getting it. Are they merely unfortunate or is there something more profound? However, scribbling complaints on the Facebook page of Uber and Lyft will not produce any productive solution.

If the rating is not as you desire, if you are getting continuous bad ratings, you must be doing something wrong. It is crucial that you give some time to figure out what’s going wrong. Is it the driving skill that is getting you the low rating or is it the interpersonal skill that is going wrong? Find the answer to get your driver rating high.