Now, what constitutes ghetto here in Big D is MUCH different than the Beltway and especially Baltimore. I actually know the east coast from another life, so to speak, and although I’m sure the world continues to change,as it always does everywhere and everyday, Baltimore was and probably still is a tough town. For an LA perspective, think Crenshaw… Just be safe and use your head and don’t get jacked. Most folks just want a (cheap) ride and a safe way home.
I’m not picking up a 4.3 rated guy named t-money (yes I’ve had a ping for one of those) on a well known crime area street. But lets day it’s 2pm and I know the street to be near a major intersection and they have a good rating I might accept and drive past the block but if something seems off I’ll just hit cancel
Yeah I tend to operate when there is the least amount of risk for an accident so that leaves me between 9pm-4am as my main times. T-Money hahaha. That is priceless. I had a guy named Bash request me once and I couldnt bring myself to ask him his name when I first arrived.
I have never declined a ping because it was in a bad part of town. I treat everyone the same. Maybe I am setting myself up but I think if you treat everyone with respect they will act in kind.
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I usually avoid a certain parts but the funny thing is I was on a well known section of the city and never got a ping on couple occasions. But as long as its not dark. But some areas sketch me out especially when people are hanging out in front of stores you never know if they claim to be a pax than try robbing you so I avoid it all together.
I think it’s crazy how we have to up our real name and DL to uber for our pax but they can give a fake name. I get the whole privacy thing but I’d love to know who’s really sitting behind me in my vehicle
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When I used to drive I accepted a handful of requests in the REALLY bad parts of town. The folks I picked up were outstanding customers. Very polite and showed more respect towards me and my car than many of the more affluent customers.
I have. Once Got a ping and had to turn around because coroners van and police were blocking the road kind of ghetto. We have a few here in Jacksonville.
If you get a ping at a Police Station, it’s probably someone just getting released.
Had two of those in past two weeks. I still take the request. Makes for an interesting conversation on the way, usually on their way back home to take a shower and smoke something.
I’ve done it once before. I picked up someone who was simply going to her dorm. I also dropped off a couple to the hood from a grocery store.
I got a PAX last week that I picked up from her work. The destination was one of the worst housing projects in Birmingham in mid afternoon. Fortunately (for me), there had just been a shooting so the police were everywhere.
I drive in metro Atlanta, which has neighborhoods like Buckhead (think Beverly Hills) all the way to some of the lowest income, high crime areas you can imagine. If a pax has a rating of at least 4.6 and enters a real first name , I have no issues doing pickups.
I pick up in the poor neighborhoods. At night even. And honestly - my poorer pax are often way more respectful and gentler in my car than the kids from the private University who slam my doors and act like fools. They usually thank me for picking them up & are super polite (yes ma’am & all that).
drivers are currently in a grace period in the ghetto, riders realize the benefit of the service and protect it with peer pressure. My passengers always say, stay safe, as they exit in areas that have 50% of the homes abandoned with doors and windows smashed open to the weather.
I would like to think that is true of my favorite city, at least. Down south, dunno. I have picked up some nice people and some self entitled little witches, both in dinner jackets and baggy pants. It’s a matter of personal attitude. But then again, I do roll through the ghetto, so hey! And I thought about it a little after all this.
There should be a way for passengers to voluntarily go through the same background check that drivers go through. Then show that they are verified to drivers.
I’ve been pinged out of the airport to some shady parts of town. Cash is king, with the prices so low, ghetto town goes downtown too. So it was like an airport run anyhow. The several times Ive gone ghetto,the people have always been nice to me, and have had more respect than a drunk fratt boy bar hopping.