Ride-hailing service Uber has loads of plans for its offerings around the world. Flyers, other flyers, people who can’t find parking, and folks who don’t like making lists are all due some sort of upgrade. Closer to home, it’s motorcycles. Lots and lots of motorcycles.
Uber revealed plans at the South Africa Investment Conference to invest some R5 billion in the South African market over the course of a decade. Said funds would go towards delivery and mobility solutions in the country. In less abstract terms, it means more motorcycles on the road. And not just for deliveries, either.
Two-wheeled Uber
One of the more unusual offerings from the platform in South Africa is Uber Moto. If the name isn’t a large enough clue, these are motorcycles that pick up passengers and ferry them to their destinations. It’s like the regular service, but with fewer seats. And your driver can’t talk quite as much. It’s also not very effective for long-distance travel, but that’s the point.
Right now, Moto is limited in scope. It’s confined to some areas of Johannesburg, but the company hopes to roll it out more broadly. The company’s GM, Deepesh Thomas, explained, “Moto, in particular, could become a core engine for transportation and e-hailing in South Africa over the next decade.”
Whether or not this is a good idea is the subject of debate. Current fuel trends suggest that both drivers and passengers would cheerfully accept cheaper rides in South Africa. There’s the fact that this country’s poverty line is lower than that of many other countries, a fact that could help drive the platform’s ambitions. Popping pedestrians on motorbikes lowers barriers for entry into Uber’s ecosystem (bikes are cheaper than cars, both to purchase and to run).
And then, obviously, the ride-hailing company stands to make money from having 300,000 extra drivers on the road. No matter how it’s couched, there’s no denying that Uber’s trend of late has been to look out for the company over its clients. The most recent example? Using customer data for data-driven advertising, which will launch in America initially. It’s not likely to stay there.
All roads lead to risk
Against Uber’s plans, R5 billion investment notwithstanding, are the risks involved in sticking pillion passengers on motorcycles. Anyone who has driven a motorcycle seriously should have heard of a single acronym — ATGATT, or ‘all the gear, all the time.’
Motorcycles are one of the most dangerous forms of transportation. True, the risk goes up as your engine size does, but being sideswiped in a car is a markedly different experience from having the same accident on a bike. Uber Moto drivers won’t be able to cart around a full set of gear to fit every possible passenger.
Drivers don’t even have enough space to carry one of each of the four motorcycle helmet sizes. Even if they did, there’s no guarantee that any of these helmets will be safe to use. Simply dropping one — something a passenger can easily do — can render a motorbike helmet unsafe. An ill-fitted or cracked helmet, or no helmet at all, greatly elevates the risk of serious brain injury or death, and that’s before you consider the bodily injuries possible when transporting someone not wearing protective gear on the rest of their body.
300,000 new drivers in a country that needs affordable transport sounds good on paper, but it opens drivers and passengers to substantial risk. Uber’s potential liabilities could expand despite its terms of service exempting it from anything that may happen to you while on a ride. It’s not like anybody reads the agreements they’re consenting to before using… well, anything software-based.
Skill issue
Riding a motorcycle, and riding one in South Africa in particular, is an acquired skill. It’s very probable that long-term riders will develop that skill over time, but passengers are another situation. Transporting another human being on a motorcycle safely requires that both parties know what they’re doing. Anyone who has carried a pillion passenger who tries to see past the driver will know just how dangerous someone uneducated in motorcycle operation can make even a short trip.
Whether or not Uber invests in driver training, the Moto project is likely to be a far more dangerous effort than opting for a South African minibus taxi. It’ll certainly be more dangerous than riding in any standard four-wheeled vehicle.
Uber has previously claimed that its Moto service is safe, saying that it provides training to all drivers on helmet usage and transporting passengers. The problem is the inherent risk of a motorcycle ride in South Africa, that passengers aren’t trained or correctly attired, and the fact that there’s not enough space to carry the required safety gear on a bike. Since a company like Uber is unlikely to ever say ‘You got us, we just want the money,’ I don’t expect much direct comment on the safety risks. You’re not supposed to think about those. Just look at the investment number and the 300,000 new bikes on the road. That’s enough of a distraction, surely?
