It is no secret that ride-hailing services are struggling to keep riders as well as drivers safe from one another. Based on the information provided by Uber, 3,045 sexual assaults occurred on Uber trips in 2018. This fact highlights the severity of the issue. Hopefully, Uber and Lyft are willing to tackle this issue.
This week, they made an important announcement. According to this announcement Uber and Lyft decided to share information about drivers who were deactivated for committing serious offenses. In fact, companies will pool information under the banner of the Industry Safety Sharing Project.
Uber and Lyft will share information about driver deactivations regarding the five most critical safety issues. They will share this information within the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s (NSVRC) Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Violence Taxonomy, along with physical assault fatalities.
As mentioned above, companies are struggling to deal with various crimes. In 2019, 19 women sued Lyft for allegedly failing to prevent sexual assault committed by drivers on the platform. Moreover, 14 additional women sued Lyft in September 2020, over its handling of sexual assault complaints.
Lyft, Uber, and passengers
People should keep in mind that, both companies conduct background checks. According to both companies, passenger safety is their top priority. For example, they attempted to tackle this issue through technology updates, like in-app “panic buttons” which let drivers instantly dial 911 or ways to report a driver for unsafe activity.
Interestingly, this new project is a step forward for the companies as well as passengers. Importantly, drivers often drive for both companies. It is worth mentioning that, the companies will share information about drivers that commit a serious offense as defined by the NSVRC categories.
People should keep in mind that, after receiving the information, the decision to ban a driver is up to the company. It will make decisions based on its policies and standards. Importantly, each company can decide to take action to deactivate that driver.
Furthermore, people who would like to work for Uber or Lyft will undergo a check against this database. As a result, it will be possible not to hire people who committed serious crimes. Uber and Lyft made the right decision. Moreover, other companies should pay more attention to such projects. This way it will be easier to reduce the number of various crimes committed by drivers. Also, companies will save time and money thanks to this project.
