Uber Safety- A Double Edged Sword

Uber is a popular ride sharing app that allows the user to hire uber drivers to take them to their destination. It has gained popularity in many large cities, but also controversy as safety issues come to light. I’d like to talk about the obvious first–safety for the customers, especially women.

Uber is facing a lawsuit in the US over two alleged sexual assaults in the US. The suit alleges that Uber targets its marketing toward women who have been drinking yet fails to protect female passengers by not adequately screening drivers and routinely hiring drivers with criminal histories.

What Uber does not share with customers is that making the choice to hail a ride after drinking also puts them in danger from the Uber drivers themselves.

In our opinion, this is terrible that womens’ safety has been put in jeopardy because Uber is chosing profits first. These women were humiliated, degraded, violated and robbed of their dignity. We’ll be watching the outcomes of these cases closely. Sexual assault no matter where it takes place is a large problem.

Another danger, that is not talked about as frequently is picking up speed. This time it is the Uber Driver, whose safety is put at risk. An assault of an Uber driver Friday night in Southern California was caught on camera. When the driver asked an allegedly drunk passenger to get out of his car, the rider went on a rampage according to news reports.

The driver said the passenger wouldn’t wear a seatbelt and couldn’t provide clear directions to his destination. He was drunk and refused to get out of the car when asked to. The driver needed to use pepper spray after violently being punched by the passenger repeatedly. A camera captured the entire incident.

This driver has now quit Uber, and the passenger has been banned from using Uber permanently. Clearly there is a safety issue here and the driver got lucky. Had he not had the pepper spray, the outcome may have been very different. Before you jump on the Uber bandwagon, please consider your safety first— both as a passenger and a driver.

If you were assaulted by an Uber driver or passenger, you will want to consult an experienced personal injury law firm. Call us today at 516-874-0466 for a free consultation.