Drunk in an Uber? Here, Have a Toy

Drunk people are often more annoying than a tantrum-prone child, so Uber is pretty much handling them in the aforementioned way.

The next time you get an Uber habitation from the bar, you may find a toy in the back seat to keep yous occupied. Uber on Tuesday announced that its drivers in Charlotte, Due north Carolina accept been leaving the children's toy Bop It in the dorsum seat to occupy those who have imbibed a bit too much.

"Folks there have found it's a smashing way to go along boozer riders entertained so they don't distract their driver," Uber Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan wrote in a blog postal service.

For the uninitiated, Bop It, fabricated past Hasbro, is a plastic toy with different handles, cranks, and switches that calls out audio commands, challenging players to follow directions and "bop, pull, and twist [their] way to victory."

It might seem dumb, but remember that drunk Taco Bell exec who attacked his Uber driver?

Meanwhile on the app-based machine service front end, Uber rival Lyft on Tuesday announced information technology has partnered with the Google-endemic, oversupply-sourced traffic and navigation app Waze. Lyft will integrate Waze'due south mapping and navigation technology to offer new in-app features and improvements for drivers and passengers.

For example, on iOS and Android, Lyft can at present update a commuter'due south route in real time in Waze, which should lead to shorter await times and detours when using the Lyft Line carpooling service. In addition, when navigating with Waze, drivers will soon exist able to press a "Return to Lyft" push that immediately brings upward the Lyft app.

"It'southward now a unproblematic, smoothen transition to switch from Waze navigation back into Lyft to tap the 'arrived' or 'driblet off' push button during rides," Lyft said. Waze is also now the default navigation organisation for all new Lyft drivers.

Near Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo is PCMag's expert on fettle and smart home products. Education yoga for nearly 10 years has helped her in evaluating a range of connected health products including fettle trackers, heart rate monitors, rowers, smart scales, stationary bikes, forcefulness training machines, treadmills, and more. Angela also tests smart home devices from her ranch in Florida, including air purifiers, kitchen appliances, and robot vacuums, merely to name a few.