While we have read about how an ex-Uber driver has been slapped with vehicular manslaughter charge, or stories of fake Uber drivers around which could prove to be a threat to the safety of Uber’s customers, do not think for a moment that all ridesharing drivers hail from the nether regions of hell itself. I am quite sure that the reported cases are minority incidents, but there has been an extraordinary number of sexual and physical assaults by Uber (fresh with a new logo and icons) and Lyft drivers this month alone, pointing to a rather potentially dangerous trend.
January 2016 alone saw the following alleged incidents involving Uber and Lyft drivers were reported, with an Uber driver being accused of sexually assaulting female passenger while burglarizing her home over in Athens, Georgia, while a Lyft driver was charged with groping, stalking female passenger in Jacksonville, Florida, where an Uber driver was arrested for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl passenger in Phoenix, Arizona. Over in LA, a male passenger sued Uber for alleging sexual assault and false imprisonment by driver.
There is an impression that the number of cases could be higher than what we have officially since many of them go unreported, as the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics did mention that only 15.8 to 35 percent of all sexual assaults are reported to the police.
Will fingerprint checks for Uber and Lyft drivers help make this situation better? Perhaps, but it sure as heck won’t eliminate such incidents from happening in the future.