---
title: "Uber Will Force UK Drivers to Take Breaks in Response to Safety Concerns"
description: "They'll have to stop picking up passengers after driving for 10 hours."
date: "2018-01-17"
modified: "2018-01-17"
authors:
  - name: "Stephen Edelstein"
    job_title: "Weekend Editor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/stephen-edelstein"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/tech/17734/uber-will-force-uk-drivers-to-take-breaks-in-response-to-safety-concerns"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "ride sharing"
  - "safety"
  - "Uber"
  - "uk"
  - "United Kingdom"
---

# Uber Will Force UK Drivers to Take Breaks in Response to Safety Concerns

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/02/london-diesel-theresa-may.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com\</em\>*

Uber will require U.K. drivers to take a six-hour break after they have worked for 10 hours. The new policy is a response to persistent criticism that drivers are overworked.

[Uber itself said last month](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/17142/a-third-of-uk-uber-drivers-are-logged-into-the-app-for-more-than-40-hours-a-week>) that around one-third of its 50,000 U.K. drivers are logged into the app more than 40 hours a week. However, the ride-sharing company noted that being logged into the app doesn't mean drivers are actually working for that amount of time. Uber first floated the idea of mandatory breaks [last year](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/8001/uber-will-set-limits-on-drivers-hours-in-uk-this-summer>) and will implement the policy beginning next week.

"While drivers only spend an average of 30 hours a week logged into our app, we want to do our part to ensure they don't drive tired," Andrew Byrne, Uber's head of public policy in Britain and Ireland, said in a statement.

The amount of time drivers work is not just a safety issue. While Uber has said the majority of its drivers are part-timers, critics have argued that these drivers actually work as much as full-time taxi employees, and should be treated as such.

Uber remains on the defensive in the U.K. The company [is still working](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/16143/uber-london-license-appeal-could-take-years-mayor-says>) to get its London operator license back after the British capital's transportation agency declined to renew it late last year. A second city, [York](<https://www.driving.co.uk/news/york-becomes-second-city-ban-uber/>), as also banned Uber. Sheffield suspended Uber over what the company claimed was a paperwork error but later lifted the suspension. Uber must also deal with a European Union court decision declaring that it must be [regulated like a taxi company](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/17107/eu-court-rules-that-uber-must-follow-the-same-rules-as-taxi-companies>).

## Author
Stephen has always been passionate about cars, and managed to turn that passion into a career as a freelance automotive journalist. When he's not handling weekend coverage for The Drive, you can find him looking for a new book to read.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/SAEdelstein>)