Do You Have a Lyft Flag for Safety? Are You a Safe Driver?
I think most of us consider themselves safe drivers, especially as we drive other people around. It is just abnormal to think of yourself as an unsafe driver, but at times I can be an unsafe driver. Luckily I got that feedback many years ago in my teenage years. I was driving my wife and her coworkers to the airport early in the morning with no traffic and not many other cars and they weren’t late for their flight. Somehow I took it upon myself to race to the airport as fast as possible and completely scared my wife’s coworkers during the 15 minute car ride, who I my defense were under 30 years old so there was no clear reason why they were so afraid. I thought I was driving normally but they said they would never get into my car again. I’ve also had a few instances where I completely scared the daylights out of my wife with some aggressive close passes. Now she knows to shut up and to yell at me after the pass instead of before.
I was driving a few hundred miles back home to see family before Christmas and I was driving very aggressively. It was just one of those days where the traffic conditions was just right and I could pass other cars, at high speed. It reminded me why I got the luxury car I have in the first place. About 30 minutes into the trip, I started thinking about how I drove on Lyft and what my passengers may think about my driving.
I have only had a few trips that required at least 10 minutes on the highway. Most of my trips were within the city and mostly local and I usually don’t drive aggressively in the city, unless I have a backseat driver, which I’ll cover on another day. I will use my knowledge of the city to be in certain lanes of the road but I don’t normally drive aggressive within the city on local streets. When I do take the highway for a long period of time, I usually ask my passengers if they are in a hurry and want me to drive faster/slower or just normally. I will then usually keep within 5 MPH of the speed limit and try not to pass many cars. I will also ask them in the middle of the trip if they feel uncomfortable with my driving.
When a Lyft driver gets a safety flag, it doesn’t mean that you were driving unsafe necessarily. It means that the passenger had thought you were driving unsafely, which could be a number of things. Here are a few reasons why I think passengers flag some drivers for safety:
- Not following rules of the road
- Rolling through stop signs
- Running yellow/red lights
- Dangerous U-turns
- Excessive speed
- Driver not wearing seat belt
- Passing on the left
- Watching and yielding to pedestrians and cyclists
- Driving the wrong way on an one way street
- Aggressive driving
- Close to cars in front
- Not-smooth driving
- Aggressive starts/sudden stops
- Quick and/or aggressive turns (if you have to lean to make a turn in the car, you’re turning too aggressively)
- Excessive lane changes
- Distracted Driving
- Driving while using the cell phone for Lyft/Uber/Sidecar, etc
- Driving while using the GPS system
- Driving with one hand and doing the above items
- Driving with a cup of coffee in one hand and above items with the other hand
- Condition of the car
- Does your car look unsafe or old? (Rusted door, cracked windshield, etc)
- Does your car feel unsafe? (Worn shocks, squeaky or inadequate brakes)
You can see this link for other items Lyft believes will help you with safety, along with other flags: https://www.lyft.com/drive/help/article/1575437
This is the list of things I believe the passenger may flag your driving or car for safety. There could be another possibility in that the passenger deems you unsafe, if you are being unprofessional or just creepy, like asking for their phone number or to hang out with them at a later date. Remember to act professionally whenever you are interacting with Lyft or Uber passengers. I make sure that when the ride ends, there is almost no way that I can contact the passenger and vice versa, unless somehow we exchange cards for a business they are doing or are interested in a referral card.
Have you ever gotten a flag for safety? Did you end up finding out the reason for the flag for safety? Feel free to comment below to help other drivers!
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