Uber Black to add new ‘quiet driver’ mode so you can avoid those awkward conversations

May 17, 2019

Uber is adding a new feature that will help customers avoid awkward and forced conversations, TechCrunch reports.

Uber will roll out a set of new features for its Uber Black luxury service that includes a “quiet car” mode, which will give riders the option to avoid talkative drivers, according to TechCrunch.

But the change is only one of several coming to the Uber Black luxury car. According to The Verge, Uber riders can request that drivers help them with their luggage ahead of time, and they can even request specific car temperatures, too.

Tardiness won’t be a factor, either. The new features will allow riders to add extra time to their ride without getting charged a fee for being late to the ride.

And, if something goes wrong, Uber Black riders can also talk directly with a customer service representative, who will help them work through their problem.

• “Normally,” according to The Verge, “most of these requests could be handled easily by speaking to your driver like a human being, but why bother when the technology can do it for you?”

But according to Vox, the subject of whether or not to talk to Uber drivers, and how that affects customer and passenger scores, has been an open subject of debate for many years.

Celebrities, national media and bloggers have all weighed in on the subject, explaining the proper and improper ways to talk to your driver.

• “For the most part, though, it seems like Uber drivers are just people performing jobs and they’ll engage in conversation when it seems like the person in the car with them seems into it and has something interesting to say. Which is essentially the same parameters any person uses when deciding to engage another person in conversation in any setting,” according to Vox.