Uber has fingers in a bunch of speculative technologies, including self-driving cars. But recently, they renewed their commitment to a technology that pulp sci-fi novels have been promising since forever, and tech companies have been promising for decades – flying cars.
We know, we know – it seems like every year, someone claims we are only two or three years away from having flying cars. But could it be true this time? With a transportation giant like Uber pushing for the new tech, what’s stopping us from actually realizing the dreams of Back to the Future 2?
Uber has hired longtime NASA engineer Mark Moore as director of engineering for aviation with the Uber Elevate project. Moore has spent 30 years with NASA and has done significant research on vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. His expertise in this field could lend Uber an upper hand in coming up with a safe, effective flying car.
Would Flying Cars Reduce Drunk or Drugged Driving?
There are conflicting reports on whether Uber actually has a pronounced effect on drunk driving. One study conducted in 150 cities claimed that from 2010 to 2013, Uber’s appearance was correlated with a lower rate of DUIs and fatal vehicle crashes. A 2016 study in the American Journal of Epidemiology claimed differently, looking at the top 100 most populated cities and showing no such correlation. Regardless of whether Uber’s presence actually reduces drunk driving, though, there’s nothing wrong with having more options.
So, would flying Ubers be an attractive enough proposal for drunk people to fly home instead of drive? With this planned iteration Uber VTOLs, probably not – the plan involves creating so called “vertiports” located within 50 to 100 miles of one another, meaning that it’s unlikely that a drunk person would be able to find a vertiport within walking distance of home.
Plus, imagine looking down a 1,000 foot drop while too drunk to drive – hopefully the craft comes equipped with airsickness bags.
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