Uber’s new safety RideCheck feature asks if you’re ‘OK’
Uber is rolling out the RideCheck service to all riders and drivers in the U.S., with plans to expand to other countries in the near future.
USA TODAY
A lawsuit filed Wednesday against Uber includes at least 550 women passengers alleging sexual assault, kidnapping and other attacks at the hands of drivers from the company’s ride-hailing service, a law firm announced.
The civil action suit – filed in San Francisco County Superior Court – includes claims from women in multiple states, according to a press release from attorneys representing the women. An additional 150 claims against the company are being actively investigated.
In the news release, attorney Adam Slater alleges Uber’s business model prioritized company growth over customer safety.
“Uber’s whole business model is predicated on giving people a safe ride home, but rider safety was never their concern – growth was, at the expense of their passengers’ safety,” Slater said in the release. “While the company has acknowledged this crisis of sexual assault in recent years, its actual response has been slow and inadequate, with horrific consequences.”
An Uber spokesperson said in a statement to USA TODAY that the law firm representing the passengers – Slater Slater Schulman LLP – has filed 12 cases against the company as of Thursday and alleges it has not provided critical incident details to identify a link to the ride-hailing platform.
The company takes “every single report seriously,” it said.
“There is nothing more important than safety, which is why Uber has built new safety features, established survivor-centric policies, and been more transparent about serious incidents,” the statement said. “While we can’t comment on pending litigation, we will continue to keep safety at the heart of our work.”
Last month, Uber released its second-ever U.S. safety report, detailing reported sexual assault, traffic deaths and other incidents that happened during ride-sharing trips. The report, which covered 2019 and 2020, was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said.
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It follows the first safety report, released in 2019 about incidents occurring the prior two years.
In all, the latest report found 3,824 incidents “across the five most severe categories of sexual assault and misconduct” on its U.S. platform, while 20 people were killed in assaults and 101 died in crashes in 2019-2020.
“Behind every data point is a personal experience, and sometimes pain and loss, that must be acknowledged,” a company news release said. “That’s why we continue to invest in safety, building new features to help prevent incidents and challenging the entire industry to raise the safety bar.”
But according to the lawsuit, Uber’s attention toward passenger safety has come too late for many victims – and driver misconduct continues to happen on the company’s watch.
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In a press release, attorneys referenced Uber executives’ longtime reluctance to fingerprint prospective drivers. Slater also alleged that Uber “has a longstanding policy that it will not report any criminal activity to law enforcement.”
“There is so much more that Uber can be doing to protect riders: adding cameras to deter assaults, performing more robust background checks on drivers, creating a warning system when drivers don’t stay on a path to a destination,” Slater said. “But the company refuses to, and that’s why my firm has 550 clients with claims against Uber and we’re investigating at least 150 more.”
“Acknowledging the problem through safety reports is not enough,” Slater added. “It is well past time for Uber to take concrete actions to protect its customers.”
The release recommends that sexual assault survivors seeking resources call 800-656-HOPE (4673), in order to be connected with a trained staffer from a supportive service provider in their area.
Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY.
Contact reporter Jared Weber at jtweber@gannett.com.
