The release comes three years after Lyft and Uber pledged to conduct investigations and gather data. Public demand for this kind of transparency came in 2018, after CNN’s investigation about sexual assaults and incidents on these two ride-hail platforms.
Lyft Has Pushed Back the Deadlines Twice
Uber published its study by the end of 2019, and it revealed 5,981 reports of sexual assaults and 464 rape reports over the two-year period.
However, Lyft failed to keep its promise and pushed back the deadlines twice in 2019 and 2020. Both companies emphasized that 99.9% of their rides had no reported incidents in the observed periods.
Drivers Are Also at Risk
Lyft’s report reveals that riders reported 52% of the sexual assault incidents, 38% were reported by drivers, while another 10% were initiated by third parties (law enforcement officials, family, friends, media, etc.).
The results shown were very similar to Uber’s, which had 56% of the sexual assault reported by the customers, and 42% by the drivers.
Both companies have faced numerous legal claims over the years from customers claiming to be sexually assaulted while using these platforms. A better background check on the drivers might solve just one part of the problem because passengers often commit these assaults.
New Features Might Improve Safety
In an effort to increase safety, Lyft has added new features to its app — a quick way to contact 911 and a tool that tracks the route and checks on the driver and rider if it senses anything irregular. Since there is no data about how helpful these new features actually are, having protection in the form of a pepper spray and similar might be a good idea.
Uber is scheduled to release its second transparency report by the end of this year, while Lyft remains silent about any similar reports in the future.
