u/TheSolarExpansionist

Does anyone think the UK department responsible for road safety would actually care that private hire and delivery companies keep cutting driver pay?

When companies like Uber keep reducing what drivers earn, the only way many drivers can make a living is by working much longer hours or rushing between jobs.

Fatigue and time pressure are obvious road safety risks, yet it feels like nobody in government is interested in looking at whether the business model itself is contributing to more dangerous driving.

And before anyone says it’s just about “bad drivers”, ask yourself what happens when people have to work 10–14 hour days just to earn what they used to make in fewer hours.

The incentives are completely different.
I also don’t buy the idea that this is simply an unfortunate side effect. If deteriorating human driving statistics make autonomous vehicles look like a more attractive solution, I don’t think companies pushing self-driving technology have much incentive to reverse the trend.

Whether you agree with that last point or not, shouldn’t the road safety authorities at least be investigating whether falling driver pay is having a measurable impact on fatigue, speeding and collisions?