Uber self-reported 3,000 sexual assaults in U.S. rides last year, including 235 reported rapes, and 280 reports of attempted rape, according to an 84-page "US Safety Report" released late Thursday.
Several of the rideshare's assault and rape reports came from the Seattle area, as KIRO-7 investigations show from 2016, to this year.
The report explains Uber's considerable response to the numbers, stressing new more stringent company standards and safety measures like an SOS button on the Uber app which alerts 911 to your location.
Seattle Uber drivers were alarmed to see the numbers in headlines as they worked Thursday evening.
"Yeah, this is too much," said German Bolanos, a full-time Seattle Uber driver with a high professional rating.
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"I have two and a half years doing this job and I never have any kind of problem like this," said Bolanos, who acknowledged he is very aware of possible tension with riders--especially women--over Uber's safety report.
"I always try to be professional and very safe," he said.
Bolanos was one of more than 40,000 rideshare drivers who were cleared by an extra background check with a branch of King County, in addition to the checks done by Uber and Lyft.
In the last year, four rideshare drivers were charged in King County with either sexual assault, rape or attempted rape while operating a rideshare.
Highlighted in Uber's report, which spans the U.S. over a year: 235 reports of rape, 280 reports of attempted rape, 1,560 reports of groping, and 970 reports of unwanted kissing.
But Uber's report also indicates with nearly 4 million rides made daily, your numerical odds of being a victim a sexual assault by a driver in 2018 was still rare. An average of about one in 5 million customers reported being an victim of sexual assault.
“Confronting sexual violence requires honesty, and it’s only by shining a light on these issues that we can begin to provide clarity on something that touches every corner of society,” the company’s chief legal officer, Tony West, said in the "executive summary" portion of the report. “The moment is now for companies to confront it, count it, and work together to end it.”
Cox Media Group
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