Every year, Uber publishes a Lost & Found report of items forgotten in cars in the United States. So what do people leave behind in their ride-shares, and has it changed since the pandemic?
Pre-pandemic, the most commonly lost items were:
- Phone
- Camera
- Wallet
- Keys
- Purse / Backpack
- Clothing
- Glasses
- Headphones
- Vape / E-cig
- ID / License
People were most forgetful on weekends late at night...unsurprisingly.
The most forgetful days of the year were around New Years and Halloween. Looks like people were partying and leaving their belongings behind!
East Alabama, Gallup, New Mexico, and Cookeville, Tennessee were the most forgetful places in the United States.
People were more likely to forget laptops on Wednesdays, passports on Fridays, and cakes on Sundays. A lucky find for a driver!
What were the most unusual items left behind? Dirty laundry, 10 pound of pulled chicken, a salmon head, and leather snakeskin Louboutin heels made the list!
Most commonly left behind items during the first year of the pandemic were:
- Phone
- Wallet
- Keys
- Backpack / bag / purse
- Headphones
- Clothing
- Glasses
- Vape / e-cig
- ID / license / passport
- Water bottle
Camera falls out of the top 10, and water bottle rises in the ranks! People continued to be more forgetful on weekends and holidays, and Lubbock, Texas was the most forgetful city.
More people lost their headphones, and 2020 saw a 21% increase in lost AirPods compared to 2019.
Strange items include a specimen cup from a doctor's office, a CPAP sleep machine, Swarovski binoculars, and a skin-colored retainer.
With the pandemic in full swing, here's what was left behind in 2021:
- Phone
- Camera
- Wallet
- Keys
- Backpack / Luggage
- Headphones
- Glasses
- Vape / E-cig
- ID
- Water bottle
Luggage makes an appearance on the list! Austin, Texas is the most forgetful city of 2021, followed by Fort Myers, Florida and Nashville, Tennessee.
People were most likely to leave behind cash on Wednesdays, baby items on Fridays, and groceries on Mondays. In 2021, riders lost red, blue, pink, and green items most often, and Gucci products were left behind five times more often than Chanel products.
And riders left cash...$60,000 dollars worth!
Strange items left behind include: a prosthetic leg, a tattoo machine, and a birth certificate.
The top 10 most commonly forgotten items looks similar in 2022:
- Phone / camera
- Wallet
- Keys
- Backpack / purse
- Headphones / speaker
- Glasses
- Clothing
- Vape
- Jewelry
- ID
Austin, Texas wins most forgetful city again, for the second year in a row, followed by Charlotte, North Carolina and Houston, Texas.
People were more likely to forget glasses and chargers on Mondays, passports and books on Wednesdays, and makeup on Sundays. Over 40 people left their CPAP machine in an Uber, and Nike is the brand most forgotten in the car.
Weird lost items include: a dart that says "unleash the beast," a spray tan machine, a tortoise, a pear-shaped diamond, and urns with pet and relative remains.
Which brings us to this year:
- Clothing
- Phones
- Backpacks and purses
- Wallets
- Headphones
- Jewelry
- Keys
- Books
- Laptops
- Watches
Clothing has moved to number 1, and books have popped into the top 10, replacing vapes. Are people reading more, or smoking less? Jacksonville, Florida comes out as the most forgetful city, followed by San Antonio, Texas and Palm Springs, California.
April 5th was the most forgetful day, with almost 1,000 reports of lost items. Shawls were one of the top items of clothing left behind...so perhaps riders were cold!
Uncommon items left behind include tattoo ink, a fire sword, Britney Spears Fantasy perfume, a bidet, and a power of attorney document issued by the Turkish consulate.
So next time you take an Uber...double-check your belongings before getting out!
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