Last night in Ottawa, I took my second and probably my last ride in an UberX "taxi".
I have always been weirded out by getting into some random persons car who isn't a taxi. Taxis aren't perfect, normally my complaint relates to smell, the driver or an overpowering air freshener that without a doubt gives me a headache. That aside I always feel safe because I assume that the driver is well seasoned and has lots of experience.
Last night we wanted to go to a theatre that was about 20 minutes away in Gloucester. The fact that there is no big theatre in downtown Ottawa is another issue in itself. I ordered my UberX (they only have UberX and UberXL in the city), and soon we were on our way.
Shortly after we got into he car, things got interesting. The driver made small chat and we were talking about how in London the drivers need to learn the city. Our driver, exclaimed: why do you need to know where you are going when you can get anywhere using GPS? This is true, but the professional driver we got from the airport two days prior knew how to avoid Ottawa rush hour traffic without a GPS and he even alerted his dispatcher so other drivers could avoid the area.
Shortly into the ride, we were travelling down Montreal Rd at a good pace. I felt he was driving a little too aggressive for this road, sometimes hitting 80km an hour. This made me uneasy. We approached a police car from the rear and worried that we were doomed for a ticket I said to the driver: "that police car has no lights on". My reasoning for this was twofold: 1. I was hoping he would take the hint and slow the F down. 2. I didn't want to get a speeding ticket. I think at this point he actually disagreed with me that it was even a police car.
Well, he overtook the police car instead of heeding my warning and in doing so he went through an amber light. This didn't sit well with me and I turned back to see if our impending doom was in to be pulled over. No lights. Yet.
About a block down after the police had obeyed his red light we get flashed to pull over. The driver apologized and said he didn't know why, he wasn't speeding. Myself and my friend may have disagreed with him.
The officer came to the window and let the driver know that he had ran a stale yellow light. I let the officer know that we were UberX passengers but not because I wanted the officer to go light on him, but just so he knew we weren't two weirdos sitting in the back seat for no reason. After the officer went back to his car the driver stated that he didn't think he did run the yellow, but yet again, we disagreed with him. His aggressive driving was careless and if he couldn't identify that he was speeding or running yellow lights, maybe he shouldn't be driving people around.
The officer returned with a warning. He let the driver know that he could have been fined ~$180 for a yellow light and ~$300 for a red and lots of demerit points. The driver was pleasant and we were off. The driver did instruct us to contact Uber so we can get our ride for free, we'll see what happens with that.
When I have taken taxis in Montreal and we are barreling down the bumpy streets I felt safe. Is it because my car is orange or yellow and I know the driver has been around the block? Probably. But the UberX experience leaves me feeling uneasy and anxious. Getting into a strangers car isn't something that I'll probably do again. This ride was very uncomfortable not only for me but my friend also. Is it worth saving a couple of bucks? Nope. No more UberX for me.
