University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 5-2017 The dangers and self protective behaviors of ride share drivers. M. Angela Schwendau University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Part of the Criminology Commons, and the Work, Economy and Organizations Commons Recommended Citation Schwendau, M. Angela, "The dangers and self protective behaviors of ride share drivers." (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2635. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/2635 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE DANGERS AND SELF PROTECTIVE BEHAVIORS OF RIDE SHARE DRIVERS By M. Angela Schwendau B.S., University of Louisville, 1996 M.S., University of Louisville, 2005 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Louisville In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Criminal Justice Department of Criminal Justice University of Louisville Louisville, KY May 2017 Copyright 2017 by M. Angela Schwendau THE DANGERS AND SELF PROTECTIVE BEHAVIORS OF RIDE SHARE DRIVERS By M. Angela Schwendau B.S., University of Louisville, 1996 M.S., University of Louisville, 2005 A Dissertation Approved on April, 2017 By the following Dissertation Committee: Dissertation Chair Dr. Richard Tewksbury Dr. Price Foster Dr. Kristin Swartz Dr. Ryan Schroeder ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank by Dissertation Chair and mentor, Dr. Richard Tewksbury, for his guidance and support throughout my experience in the doctoral program. He has been gracious to work with me through many challenges and never held back his criticisms or praise. All of this has made me a better writer and scholar. I would also like to thank Dr. Price Foster for being my mentor throughout my academic career. He has watched me grow both academically and personally and I appreciate everything he has done for me. Gratitude is also extended to Dr. Kristin Swartz and Dr. Ryan Schroeder for their willingness to participate as members of my dissertation committee. Additionally, I must thank the ride share drivers who gave their consent and allowed me to interview them for this project. Without them this project would not have been possible, so thank you. I must also thank my daughters, Alexandra and Rebecca, for their patience and support during this entire process. I hope they are as proud of me and I am of them. And lastly, I must thank my parents – Bill and Mary – and the other members of my family for their everlasting love and support. I love you all. iii ABSTRACT THE DANGERS AND SELF PROTECTIVE BEHAVIORS OF RIDE SHARE DRIVERS M. Angela Schwendau April 14, 2017 Ride-sharing companies have sprung up in various countries around the world, starting in the United States, in the past five years (Uber, 2015). These entrepreneurial upstarts have invaded the transportation industry with contract drivers and no regulations. As independent contractors, these drivers are not afforded the rights and protections as employees. Therefore, they question whether the companies, Uber and Lyft, are concerned about their safety and security. The closest profession to ride share drivers are taxicab drivers, who are considered to have one of the most violent jobs in the United States (Richardson & Windau, 2003). Specifically, they have a higher rate of homicide than police officers (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 2012). Therefore, it would make sense that ride share drivers are concerned about their safety. The present qualitative study utilizes interviews with 50 drivers throughout the United States to understand their fears about the lack of safety and security provided by the companies. Analysis of the interviews provide in depth knowledge into the world of ride share from the drivers’ point of view, including their suggestions for making the job safer. Lastly, a discussion that includes a summary of the findings, contributions and policy implications, and limitations will be followed with a conclusion. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -----------------------------------------------------iii ABSTRACT------------------------------------------------------------------------iv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION-------------------------------------------------1 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE ----------------------------------5 Reducing the Risks ------------------------------------------------------9 Physical Controls --------------------------------------------------------11 Procedural Controls -----------------------------------------------------14 Ride Share ----------------------------------------------------------------18 Current Study ------------------------------------------------------------22 CHAPTER III ROUTINE ACTIVITY THEORY---------------------------24 CHAPTER IV METHODOLOGY--------------------------------------------38 Sample--------------------------------------------------------------------38 Data Collection ---------------------------------------------------------40 Analysis ------------------------------------------------------------------41 v CHAPTER V RIDE SHARE DRIVERS--------------------------------------43 Sources of Income------------------------------------------------------44 Flexible-------------------------------------------------------------------50 Fun/Bored----------------------------------------------------------------54 CHAPTER VI UBER OR LYFT----------------------------------------------59 Lyft------------------------------------------------------------------------59 Uber-----------------------------------------------------------------------63 CHAPTER VII INCIDENTS AND WHAT FOLLOWS-------------------68 Incidents in the first week----------------------------------------------69 Impaired passengers-----------------------------------------------------72 Police assistance---------------------------------------------------------84 Passengers up to no good-----------------------------------------------86 Responses from Uber and Lyft-----------------------------------------90 Weapons------------------------------------------------------------------93 Dashcams-----------------------------------------------------------------96 vi CHAPTER VIII SUGGESTIONS FOR DRIVER SAFETY------------102 Training-----------------------------------------------------------------103 Passenger identification----------------------------------------------110 Driver assistance------------------------------------------------------114 Weapons---------------------------------------------------------------117 Dashcams--------------------------------------------------------------119 CHAPTER IX DISCUSSION-----------------------------------------------122 Summary of Findings------------------------------------------------122 Contributions and Policy Implications----------------------------129 Limitations------------------------------------------------------------132 Conclusion------------------------------------------------------------133 REFERENCES----------------------------------------------------------------135 TABLE-------------------------------------------------------------------------149 CURRICULUM VITAE-----------------------------------------------------151 vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Crime prevention efforts have been around for as long as there has been crime. The simple act of using punishment to deter individuals from committing crime does not work. Therefore, criminologists must find ways to stop the offender from committing the crime before it happens. In an effort to discover how to prevent crime, criminologists have developed theories on why crime happens. Environmental criminologists believe that opportunity is the basis of crime rather than looking only at the individual that commits the crime. Government and society cannot change how a person is born or raised, that is in the past. Without being able to eliminate these roots of crime, government and society turn their focus to the current situation of how to prevent crime through a change in opportunity. Within the scope of opportunity theory lies routine activity theory and its approach to understanding crime through the offender’s point of view, not society’s or the victim’s. Historically, routine activity theory suggests that in the everyday actions of the offender, within his awareness space, he will come into contact with opportunity to commit crime. Routine activity theory (Cohen & Felson, Social Rate and Crime Rate Trends: A Routine Activity Approach, 1979) is a lifestyles theory that can be viewed at the micro level or macro level. On the micro level, routine activity theory proposes that criminal opportunity exists when three elements--a motivated offender coming in contact with a suitable target that is missing a capable guardian—converge in time and space (p. 593). 1 On the macro level, routine activity theory suggests that it is the elements of the society or community at large that makes such encounters possible (p. 592) From a control perspective, it is no longer about internal