For every Uber horror story you’ve shared, you can rest assured that drivers have plenty of their own. In an effort to encourage better behavior among passengers, the ride-sharing service recently released a list of actions that could potentially get users banned, VentureBeat reports.
The updated community guidelines don’t contain any major surprises: They’re mostly common sense rules that anyone who’s ever conducted themselves in public will hopefully be familiar with. The list of behaviors to avoid includes shouting, swearing, vomiting, carrying firearms, leaving trash in the car, allowing minors to ride unaccompanied, and flirting with drivers or fellow passengers. Uber makes that last part crystal clear for those who didn’t catch on the first time: “As a reminder, Uber has a no sex rule. That’s no sexual conduct between drivers and riders, no matter what.”
They also remind passengers that local laws still apply once they’ve climbed into the backseat. This covers obvious violations, like verbal and physical harassment, but also less serious misdemeanors like riding without a seatbelt or asking drivers to exceed the speed limit.
If most of these rules sound obvious to you, you might be more concerned with receiving less-than-stellar ratings than losing your riding privileges all together. Uber shared a few tips to help boost your rating as well. A big one is punctuality: Meeting your driver where and when they’re expecting you is ideal, but if you know you’re going to be late it helps to shoot them a call or text updating them with your E.T.A. Above all, Uber asks that you treat the people you share your ride with with respect. They write: “People who use Uber come from all walks of life. Please respect those differences in your conversations and behavior. We want drivers and riders to always feel welcome.”
To find out if your good (or bad) passenger behavior is reflected in your rating, you can follow these steps to see how Uber drivers have scored you.
[h/t VentureBeat]
December 9, 2016 – 4:30pm