Uber Wants You To Complete A Checklist, Feels Prevention Of Sexual Assault By Its Drivers Is Your Responsibility

Uber, a radio taxi service company, has lately been the recipient of public outcry owing to the multiple instances of sexual assaults its patrons had to suffer at the hands of its drivers. The taxi service has had to take a lot of heat for alleged bad behavior by some of its drivers, including two arrests for sexual assault in as many months. Interestingly, the company has deployed a novel solution that ensures the passenger remains partly to blame if they do not comply with the rules and regulations of Uber.

The company is now attempting to help its customers avoid such horrible experiences. As part of the process, the company has merely added a safety checklist to its app that offers tips which passengers should follow to ensure they don’t find themselves in a bad situation, reported the Chicago Sun Times.

Hitching a ride in an Uber taxi was quite a routine exercise for the better part of last year, but toward the end of 2014, things a took a bad turn for the company. A few drivers allegedly committed the heinous crime of rape, and the Uber company had to bear the brunt of the negative publicity that ensued.

However, later on, the free-range cab driver service was blamed by many journalists for attempting to tarnish their images. Uber was in the midst of multiple accusations, including workforce abuse and trying to “dig up dirt” on journalists who were critical of the taxi service.

But the worst happened when a few of the Uber drivers were arrested on multiple continents — including two in America — for sexually assaulting passengers. Hence the company seems to have come up with a simple checklist that it hopes will curb the menace. The Safe Ride Checklist, as Uber likes to call it, currently contains just two items.

First, it says you should make sure the license plate number in the app matches the one in the car that’s picking you up. Second, it says you should make sure that the name and picture of your driver in the app matches the one who’s driving the car.

Unsurprisingly, the Safe Ride Checklist feature has been rolled out first in Boston and Chicago, which just happen to be the two cities where Uber drivers have been accused of raping passengers.

Speaking about the same, Chris Taylor, who is the general manager of Uber in Chicago, said, “Given there have been some accusations… we want to make sure everyone knows how to use the platform in the safest way possible. Educating people and providing tips on safety is a very responsible — doing nothing would be weak.”

Given the nature of the crimes, shouldn’t Uber focus more on ensuring its drivers are better behaved?

[Image Credit | Uber App, Flickr]