Uber journeys are getting safer, with the corporate reporting far fewer sexual assaults in 2019 and 2020 as in comparison with earlier years. However the variety of site visitors deaths throughout Uber rides is rising, reflecting the more and more harmful situations on US roads.
Uber stated 3,824 sexual assaults occurred throughout journeys in 2019 and 2020, a 38 % drop from the 2017–2018 report, which logged 5,981 assaults. The lower could possibly be associated to the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in an 80 % drop in Uber’s ride-hailing enterprise throughout 2020. Nonetheless, Uber says the overwhelming majority of journeys, 99.9 %, happen with out a security incident.
Uber says that 20 folks had been killed in bodily assaults in 2019 and 2020, an 18 % improve in comparison with the final report. Among the many deaths, 15 had been riders and 5 had been drivers. And, of the 15 rider fatalities, 12 had been killed by a 3rd occasion or one other rider. (An Uber spokesperson didn’t reply to questions in regards to the remaining three deaths.)
There have been 101 site visitors fatalities throughout Uber’s platform in 2019 and 2020, together with 14 drivers and 19 riders. The remaining folks killed had been different automobile occupants, motorcyclists, or pedestrians. Notably, there have been 23 pedestrians and three bicyclists or scooter riders killed by Uber automobiles. The corporate makes use of the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration’s methodology and knowledge standardization to evaluate automobile crashes and fatalities.
Uber says that site visitors fatalities per automobile mile traveled elevated 7 % between the 2 reported timeframes however that the corporate’s fatality price was nonetheless half the nationwide common. Greater than half of the deaths had been associated to dangerous driving behaviors, equivalent to drunk driving, lack of seat belts, or rushing, the corporate stated. And 94 % of the deaths had been the results of a third-party driver.
Site visitors deaths are skyrocketing throughout the nation, with the federal government reporting that 2021 was the bloodiest yr in many years. NHTSA tasks that 42,915 folks died in motorized vehicle site visitors crashes final yr, a ten.5 % improve from the 38,824 fatalities in 2020 and the best quantity since 2005. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has known as it a “disaster on America’s roadways.”
In an announcement, Uber’s chief authorized officer Tony West stated that whereas Uber was getting safer, “behind each knowledge level is a private expertise, and generally ache and loss, that should be acknowledged.” He additionally touted Uber’s dedication to being clear in regards to the incidents that happen in its automobiles.
“To be clear, disclosing our security knowledge doesn’t imply Uber’s platform is much less secure—it means we’re being extra sincere in regards to the uncommon security incidents that do happen,” West stated. “Most firms gained’t discuss these robust points, however pretending they don’t exist solely leaves everybody much less secure.”
Over time, Uber has confronted quite a few lawsuits concerning assault that happens on the platform. A lady from Washington, DC, sued the corporate in 2019 for negligence and shopper safety violations after she was sexually assaulted by a driver. A lady in India, who says she was raped by an Uber driver in 2014, sued Uber in 2017 following an Uber govt’s choice to illegally disclose components of her medical data to different Uber workers, together with then-CEO Travis Kalanick.
Uber and Lyft each conduct background checks and say passenger security is their high precedence. In addition they have largely tried to sort out this concern by know-how updates, like in-app “panic buttons,” which let riders immediately dial 911, or methods to report a driver for unsafe exercise.
In 2021, the businesses joined collectively to announce a “first-of-its-kind” effort to share details about drivers who had been deactivated for committing severe offenses, together with bodily and sexual assault and homicide. Drivers are categorized as impartial contractors, not workers, which means they will — and ceaselessly do — drive for each firms.
Lyft launched its first security report final yr by which it stated 10 folks had been killed in bodily altercations and over 4,000 folks had been assaulted from 2017–2019.
The difficulty of security throughout ride-sharing journeys has caught the eye of Democrats within the US Senate, who wrote a letter to Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi final month requesting extra details about employee security on the job.