For as long as Uber (UBER) has existed (it was founded in San Francisco in 2009), there have been questions on whether the company is doing enough to address safety for both its passengers and drivers — from how long it needs to require masks to things as serious as sexual assault.
In 2019, the company released its first "US Safety" report that detailed 5,981 incidents of sexual assault in 2017 and 2018. Amid an outcry over the large number of assaults and some graphic stories that emerged at around the same time, Uber promised to implement stronger safety measures.
Together with rival Lyft (LYFT), Uber experimented with different ways to flag incidents that occur while one is in the car such as a "panic button" that one can press if an uncomfortable situation starts to escalate.
Following the release of the first report, the California Public Utilities Commission also fined Uber $59 million for not releasing more data on the incidents.
The fine was later cut to just $150,000.
What Has Changed Since the First Report?
Uber released a similar 78-page report for 2019 and 2020 on June 30. It found that, in those two years, there were 3,824 incidents "across the five most severe categories of sexual assault and misconduct" as well as 20 deaths by assault and 101 fatal crashes.
The number is significantly lower for a number of factors. In the three months after the first COVID-19 restrictions were put in place in March 2020, Uber ridership dropped by approximately 75%.
"The change in rate of sexual assault reports over time may have been impacted by a number of factors, including how the Covid-19 pandemic altered usage of the platform as well as Uber’s safety and transparency efforts," Uber says in the report. "But each reported incident represents a harrowing lived experience for the survivor. Even one report is one report too many."
The numbers cannot be extrapolated to paint a wider picture given the disruptions posed by covid-19. As the number of trips increased in 2021, one can assume that the number of incidents to come out will as well.
Incidents Are Low But the Ones That Do Occur Are Serious
In general, violent incidents are a fraction of the total trips taken across the country, which were at 650 million in 2020 and 1.4 billion trips. Rape reports, of which there were 141 in 2020, made up approximately 0.00002% of all trips taken in the U.S. in the same year.
That said, the stories that do emerge still paint a harrowing picture. 91% of rape victims were riders and 7% were drivers. Women made up 81% of victims.
The 101 car crash deaths in Uber cars reflect an overall rise in fatal car crashes taking place across the country. Even with the much larger number of trips taking place, there were only 107 crashes in 2017 and 2018.
The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration earlier found that motor vehicle deaths rose by 7.2% between 2019 and 2020.
"Government data also revealed that 2020 was the deadliest year on American roads since 2007 as a result of a rise in risky behaviors such as drunk driving, speeding, and not wearing a seat belt," Uber wrote in the report.
Uber frequently stresses that safety is a major concern for the company and says that even "one report is one report too many." While some focus on the fact that the number is comparatively low, others argue that this will not help those who are subject to an attack while in a car — in 2021, dozens of women came together to collectively sue Uber over sexual assault incidents dating as far back as 2014.
