Rideshare cars have more germs than taxis, rentals, toilets: New study

Rideshare vehicles have more germs than taxis or rental cars, according to a study from the insurance-shopping website NetQuote.NetQuote swabbed surfaces in three rideshare vehicles, three taxis, and three rental cars.The rideshare vehicles had 6,055,963 colony-forming units per square-inch (CFU), while the rental cars had 2,000,510 CFU and the taxis had 27,593 CFU.According to NetQuote, a colony-forming unit is “the number of viable bacteria cells present in a sample.”Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.Rideshare cars have more germs than taxis or rental cars, according to a study from the insurance-shopping website NetQuote.The company swabbed surfaces in three rideshare vehicles, three taxis, and three rental cars. Samples were taken from a seat belt, door handle, and window buttons in the rideshare vehicles and taxis, and from the steering wheel, gear shift, and seat belt in the rental cars. Read more: Uber and Lyft drivers reveal the things you should never do while taking a rideThe rideshare vehicles had 6,055,963 colony-forming units per square-inch (CFU), while the rental cars had 2,000,510 CFU, and the taxis had 27,593 CFU. According to NetQuote, a colony-forming unit is “the number of viable bacteria cells present in a sample.” NetQuote did not disclose which rideshare, rental-car, or taxi companies it used in the study.The rideshare vehicles also had more germs than toothbrush holders (2,140,953 CFU), coffee reservoirs (32,635 CFU), and toilet seats (172 CFU), according to the study.For rideshare vehicles, the window buttons had the most bacteria, with 5,054,000 CFU. Seat belts had the most bacteria (26,000 CFU) in taxis, and the gear-shifts had the most bacteria (1,000,093 CFU) in rental cars.Rideshare vehicles were found to have the highest proportion of bacillus germs, relative to other forms of bacteria. Bacillus germs can cause infections and food poisoning, according to NetQuote.Read more:Lyft hits yet another low as rival Uber sputters in its 2nd day of tradingUber's CEO is optimistic about Eats growthUber's underwater investors: Uber's big IPO led to a whole lot of losersThe Uber strike should worry investors and the company because it points to a fundamental problem with its business model