Technology
You’ve just been harassed in an Uber or Lyft. Here’s what you can do.
A woman’s recent Lyft horror story involving an inappropriate driver has become yet another reminder that safety issues can be hard to navigate when using ride-hailing apps. But as a passenger, you do, in fact, have several different options you can take during and after a bad ride.
Let’s say you’re coming home late at night, alone and with your home address plugged into the app. Using this guide, you can better know what to do if the driver starts harassing you — whether you’re in a Lyft or Uber.
First, if anything life-threatening goes down in a car, call the police on your phone immediately. Uber has its safety center always clickable within the app and a dedicated 911 button. Other safety features introduced last year on the Uber app include a contact list you can set up to notify friends and family about a situation.
If you don’t want to escalate it to the police (totally understandable), but feel uncomfortable and don’t want this person to ever drive you or really anyone ever again, you need to let the company know.
After the ride, in the Lyft app you can report driver behavior in the “Get Help” section. The woman got in touch with Lyft’s 24/7 safety team, which is always an option on the Lyft website, even mid-ride.
Before any decisions about the driver’s status are made, at this point you can at least be assured that you and your account won’t ever be matched with the driver you’re reporting if you book a car in the future.
I have already contacted your safety team. They have yet to send me the email with the official report and nothing was actually done to reassure me that this man would be fired.
— Anna gillcrist (@AnnaGillcrist) April 7, 2019
All of Uber’s safety info is explained on their website, including information about continuous background checks that are supposed to catch any drivers breaking the law after their initial screening. The company also advises double-checking you’re getting into the correct car.
An Uber spokesperson pointed me to the community guidelines that state, “Actions that threaten the safety of drivers and riders will be investigated and, if confirmed, lead to permanent deactivation of your account.” Sure enough, inappropriate language like “overly personal questions” or comments that are “aggressive, sexual, discriminatory, or disrespectful” qualify.
The woman wrote on Twitter Tuesday afternoon that the driver was fired and no longer on the Lyft platform. She spoke to someone at Lyft Wednesday, who told her immediate action was taken to deactivate the driver involved in the incident.
Lyft did not respond to our request for comment on the woman’s ride.
The rating part of a ride-sharing trip is another chance to call out or raise attention to a problematic experience or driver. A low rating or complaint can even mean a driver is deactivated. Uber says its 24/7 safety team reviews ratings feedback and follows up on reports that sound like community guideline violations.
And as seen with this woman’s experience, getting on social media can also make sure the company is aware of the issue and does something. Lyft and Uber support teams are quick to respond online and can connect you to the appropriate teams or contacts within the company — just tag @Uber_Support or @AskLyft in a post or DM the accounts.
This all might not be as satisfying as immediately clicking a button and kicking the driver permanently from the app, but you’ve got some options.
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