Community Chat

[mspatmac]

I have successfully used Uber to and from the airport both alone and with daughter.  I think it depends where you are.  The Uber app now has tracking so if you are alone another person can track you.  If I was uncomfortable I would call someone on the phone and stay on until I reached my destination.  (I alwys carry a portable charger)

[pigletsmom]

Some of these attacks are between passangers. I'd be interested to know what the number is for cabs. I've had sketchy cab drivers in the past. I normally use Lyft and I think it's about a 50/50 ratio on men to women drivers. No problem with any of them.

[sunshine45]

my daughter lives in a major city, uses the subway, walks, uses uber, uses lyft. she does not own a car and uses the megabus when she wants to come home. she feels perfectly safe using all of those forms of transportation. she says that many of the uber/lyft drivers even watch her to make sure she gets into her apartment building safely.

i have used uber and lyft when i am traveling and a few times when we did not want to drink and drive.

[gardenman]

I don't know how common it is here, but in Britain there have been multiple, high profile cases of women falsely accusing taxi drivers (and likely Uber and Lyft drivers) of rape or sexual assault. One cabbie had kept the voice recorder on his phone running while working and that recording saved him from prosecution. In another case the woman made the accusation to try and get out of paying her fare. There have been quite a few cases of false rape accusations against British cab drivers in recent years.

[happycat]

We don't have uber here, and I do think we need something. But those numbers are scary. It seems like it would be a great job for someone who was up to nefarious activities. 

[bathina]

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@Sooner wrote:

Back in the day when you got in a car with someone you didn't know it was known as hitching a ride and was frowned upon.

Today it is glorified.  The problem is these people don't work with anyone, they aren't really known by management as were cab drivers, it is a hobby or a fill-in job not a career so to speak.

And yes, perfect way to case places and people and then they or associates move in for a robbery.

It's not the 1950's any more. 

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Right. You can't be turned away for a ride because you're black. And if you are raped, you're not forced to have your rapist's baby.

[occasionalrain]

Pizza delivery drivers have more opportunity to "case" properties since they see into homes when the door is opened. Yet, it's the pizza drivers who are robbed and sometimes killed. Accusations are just that, saying it doesn't make it so.

[Mindy D]

“More than half—54 percent—of reports of unwanted non-sexual kissing attempts came from drivers. "The majority (roughly 60%) of reports in this category involved a person kissing another person's cheek or neck," the report says.”

“The company had 464 reports of rape (or "non-consensual sexual penetration," as Uber puts it) and 587 additional reports of attempted rape. Seventy-two percent of reports in these categories were made by riders. Any attempts to remove a person's clothes "to access a sexual body part" were classified in the attempted rape category. "For example, an incident report stating that a rider tried to pull up a female driver's shirt would be classified as Attempted Non-Consensual Sexual Penetration,”

Quoted from  https://reason.com/2019/12/06/the-chance-of-your-uber-ride-ending-in-a-rape-is-00002/

[Mindy D]

Every US Uber driver undergoes an annual Motor Vehicle Review and a criminal background check before they start driving. The background check will disqualify anyone with a felony conviction in the last seven years. If Uber Identifies certain serious criminal convictions including sexual assault, sex crimes against children, murder/homicide, terrorism, and kidnapping at any time in the history the potential driver is disqualified.

Paraphrased from this report:

https://www.uber-assets.com/image/upload/v1575580686/Documents/Safety/UberUSSafetyReport_201718_Full...

[VaBelle35]

I use Uber, mostly for business, so it is daytime, busy areas (airport to hotel in a city, etc.)  Getting around at the location, I usually have another person with me, especially going back to the hotel from dinner.

When I'm alone, I always choose Uber black.  They have to have and maintain a 4.85 rating and have a commercial driver's license and carry commercial insurance as well as airport permits.

I pay more but I feel better with a seasoned person vs a starter, especially going to the airport and having to make my flight.  I need to know they know differnet ways to get there and not rely entirely on their GPS