Preface: Brought on by Lawsuits, Both Ride-Hailing Companies Produced First-Ever
Safety Reports
Reflecting the security and safety incidents occurring over five years, the data, as Uber's Legal Counsel commented "are jarring and hard to digest." And adding that "Uber is a reflection of the society it serves," is a indeed a realistic appraisal.

You'll find both firms have beefed up their security and safety efforts with Uber's 300 safety associates and Lyft's partnership with ADT among a host of other elements.

Great material and good to see such emphasis being placed on customer safety.

The only issue is that in this digital age of transparency and the overall corporate concern for customer safety it may be wise to produce these annually. Just a thought. -Gus Downing

NY Times Oct. 21, 2021

Lyft: 4,158 Sexual Assaults - 105 Motor Vehicle Fatalities - 10 Murders Between 2017 & 2019
Lyft Releases First-Ever 'Community Safety Report

Also included four fatal assaults and 49 deaths in crashes in 2019

More than 1,800 sexual assaults occurred during Lyft rides in 2019, the company said on Thursday in its first-ever safety report on sexual and physical assaults, fatal crashes and other serious incidents.

Lyft’s safety report had been long awaited in the ride-hailing industry, as the company is facing lawsuits from victims of sexual assaults that occurred during rides. It committed to releasing its sexual assault statistics in 2019, when Uber released a similar report.

“While safety incidents on our platform are incredibly rare, we realize that even one is too many,” Lyft’s head of policy development and research, Jennifer Brandenburger, said in a blog post on Thursday. “Behind every report is a real person and real experience.”

The 1,807 sexual assaults during Lyft rides in 2019, the most recent year for data in the report, were a 64 percent increase from 2017, the company said. But because the number of rides rose even faster, safety improved overall, Lyft said, with the incident rate of sexual assaults declining 19 percent during that period.

Four people were killed during physical assaults in 2019, and 49 were killed during motor vehicle accidents, Lyft said in the report.

“The type of safety incidents detailed in this report occurred on 0.0002 percent of rides, and well over 99 percent of all rides occur without any safety report at all,” Ms. Brandenburger said.

The statistics are in line with similar incidents on Uber’s platform. Uber said in its 2019 safety report that the number of sexual assaults on its platform the previous year represented just 0.0002 percent of all rides.

Rachel Abrams, a lawyer who represents about 1,000 sexual assault victims in lawsuits against Uber and Lyft, said the report from Lyft was long overdue. “We’ve all been waiting for it,” she said.

“They are not implementing the safety measures to prevent this from happening, and it’s just going to keep mounting,” Ms. Abrams added. She said Lyft should incorporate video surveillance in its vehicles to monitor for safety problems.

Lyft said it was working to make its platform as safe as possible, requiring drivers to undergo rigorous background checks and offering riders safety check-ins and emergency assistance during rides that veer off course. nytimes.com
 

Read the full Lyft Safety Report here

Lyft Partners With Uber & ADT

Industry Sharing Safety Program: We are always looking for ways to further protect the community. Earlier this year, in an effort to further enhance the safety of the entire industry, we partnered with Uber to launch the Industry Sharing Safety Program, a first-of-its-kind effort to share information about the drivers who are deactivated from rideshare and delivery platforms for the reasons detailed in this report. The program enables the sharing of information to equip other participating companies with the information needed to take action on their own platforms.

EMERGENCY HELP, SUPPORTED BY ADT: If a rider or driver ever feels uncomfortable or needs emergency assistance at any point, they are able to quickly connect with an ADT security professional silently or by voice. Riders are able to choose whether they want ADT to text them, call them or silently alert 911 on their behalf (to promote focused driving, drivers only have the option to request a call from ADT).

“ADT’s partnership with Lyft helps provide riders and drivers with a safety resource during moments of stress or vulnerability. In these moments, people often freeze, forget crucial information, or are unsure of what to do. They may also want to call for help discreetly, requiring alternatives to dialing 911. With this first-of-its-kind in-app integrated resource, ADT and Lyft are placing empowering safety tools in the hands of riders and drivers.” —Leah Page, Vice President, Mobile Security & Strategic Projects at ADT. lyft.com
 

NY Times, Dec 5, 2019

Uber 5,981 Sexual Assaults - 107 Motor Vehicle Fatalities - 19 Murders in 2017 & 2018
Uber Says 3,045 Sexual Assaults Were Reported in U.S. Rides in 2018

In its first safety report, the ride-hailing company detailed sexual assaults, murders and fatal crashes through its platform.

Uber said on Thursday that it had reports of 3,045 sexual assaults during its rides in the United States in 2018, with nine people murdered and 58 killed in crashes, in its first study detailing unsafe incidents on the ride-hailing platform.

The number of incidents represented a fraction — just 0.0002 percent — of Uber’s 1.3 billion rides in the United States last year, the company said. Uber Safety Report | Uber Safety Program

Safety has been a long-running Achilles’ heel for ride-hailing companies, which depend on a large volume of people using their service. Uber, the world’s biggest, chose to be transparent about cataloging sexual assaults, murders and crash fatalities as it has faced growing pressure over these issues.

“The numbers are jarring and hard to digest,” Tony West, Uber’s chief legal officer, said in an interview. “What it says is that Uber is a reflection of the society it serves.”

Uber and others have introduced more safety features and procedures in recent years. Uber has rolled out automated technology to regularly check drivers’ driving records and criminal history. Since 2018, it said, it has deactivated 40,000 drivers in the United States after they failed the checks made by the automated technology.

Uber’s study establishes a benchmark for safety in an industry where such data has been scarce.

Uber said it had cataloged 2,936 sexual assaults in 2017 and 3,045 in 2018, ranging from unwanted kissing of what it called a “nonsexual body part” to attempted rape and rape. The largest category was nonconsensual touching of a “sexual body part” like someone’s mouth or genitals.  uber.com  nytimes.com