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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Uber Reports More Than 3,000 Sexual Assaults in a Year

Uber, as part of a long anticipated safety report, revealed that more than 3,000 sexual assaults were reported during its U.S. rides in 2018.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Uber, as part of a long anticipated safety report, revealed that more than 3,000 sexual assaults were reported during its U.S. rides in 2018.

That figure includes 235 rapes across the company's 1.3 billion rides last year. The ride-hailing company noted that drivers and riders were both attacked and that some assaults occurred between riders.

The Thursday report, the first of its kind, provides a rare look into the traffic deaths, murders and reported sexual assaults that took place during billions of U.S. rides using Uber. It is part of the company's effort to be more transparent after years of criticism of its safety record.

In 2017, the company counted 2,936 reported sexual assaults — including 229 rapes — during 1 billion U.S. trips. Uber bases its numbers on reports from riders and drivers, meaning the actual numbers could be much higher. Sexual assaults commonly go unreported.

"I suspect many people will be surprised at how rare these incidents are; others will understandably think they're still too common," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi tweeted about the report. "Some people will appreciate how much we've done on safety; others will say we have more work to do. They will all be right."

Uber's share price dropped by more than 1% in after-hours trading.

Uber and competitor Lyft have faced harsh criticism for not doing enough to protect the safety of riders and drivers. Dozens of women are suing Lyft, claiming the company should have done more to protect them from driver assaults. A Connecticut woman sued Uber last month, claiming she was sexually assaulted by her driver.

The Courthouse News database shows at least 22 sexual-assault lawsuits were filed against Uber this year. Three thousand sexual assaults a year comes to eight a day, or one every three hours.

London refused to renew Uber's license to operate in the city in November, after the company was plagued with safety issues, including concerns about impostor drivers. Uber said it will appeal.

Both companies have formed partnerships with sexual assault prevention networks and other safety groups, and have touted their background check policies for drivers. But many say they haven't gone far enough to protect passengers and drivers, who are contract workers, not employees.

"Keeping this information in the dark doesn't make anyone safer," Uber said in a statement announcing the report. It plans to release its safety report every two years.

Lyft said last year it would also release a safety report. A company spokeswoman confirmed Thursday that it "remained committed" to that, but did not say when it would be released.

Mike Bomberger, a lawyer representing more than 100 victims of sexual assault in lawsuits against Uber and Lyft, applauded Uber for releasing the numbers. "One of the problems with both of these companies is that they have hidden and have tried to conceal the number of sexual assaults that occur in their vehicles," he said.

In response, an Uber spokesperson pointed to the new report. Lyft called Bomberger's charge "baseless."

Bomberger said he believes 80% to 90% of the assaults in the Uber report could have been prevented by measures such as cameras in the cars recording rides and the companies reporting every assault they learn of to the police.

The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network said it appreciated Uber's transparency.

"This is an issue that affects every institution in America," RAINN press secretary Emily Robinson said in a statement. She said that organizations in every industry, including education, should "make a similar effort to track and analyze sexual misconduct within their communities."

The report stated that Uber rides were involved in 97 reported crashes in 2017 and 2018, resulting in 107 deaths. The company said the figure represents about half the national rate for fatal crashes.

Sexual assault in the report is defined broadly into categories including nonconsensual kissing of a nonsexual body part, attempted nonconsensual sexual penetration, nonconsensual touching of a sexual body part, nonconsensual kissing of a sexual body part and nonconsensual sexual penetration.

The company also said Uber rides were involved in nine murders during 2018, and 10 during 2017. Uber said that the vast majority — 99.9% — of its rides had no reported safety issues.

(Courthouse News contributed to this report.)

Categories / Business, Consumers, Criminal

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