Ride-hailing apps like Uber are pretty good at ensuring the riders' safety, but what about the drivers? What can they do to stay safe on the road?
Uber does everything it can to ensure the safety of its riders. But, what about drivers? Uber's safety data shows that drivers are victims of nearly half of all sexual assaults during rides.
In Tennessee, a drunk passenger raped a female Uber driver. In San Francisco, three female passengers assaulted a male driver. In New York, a deranged passenger lunged from the back seat to punch his driver several times while on the road.
Clearly, drivers face various risks every time they hit the road. However, they are not helpless. There are tools and technologies they can deploy to enhance their safety.
Almost all the popular ride-hailing and ride-sharing apps, from Uber to Bolt to Lyft, have provided a centralized safety page on their app, usually accessible by tapping on the shield on the screen and usually called the Safety Toolkit or hub. It gives drivers easy access to features such as the ability to summon the nearest emergency services, the ability to monitor the location of your vehicle on a map, and real-time tracking by loved ones.
You don't have to be concerned about your safety if you understand these features and keep them turned on while on the road. In addition to the in-app safety solutions provided by providers such as Uber and Lyft, there are other personal safety apps out there that you can add to your phone to enhance your overall safety and peace of mind.
You should use a dash cam like the DDPai Mini5 Dash Cam to record everything that happens on the road ahead and inside your cabin to ensure your safety. A rider will be highly motivated to moderate their behavior if they can see and know there's a dash cam on board that's recording them.
And if there's an incident that requires police intervention or the involvement of your insurance company, such as an accident or assault, the video from the dash cam will be useful in providing the necessary evidence.
However, it is unethical to live stream your passengers. As reported by NBC News, Uber and Lyft famously removed a driver from their platforms for this very reason. In most jurisdictions, it is illegal to live stream a person without their consent.
When shopping for a dash cam, make sure it can shoot video at 1080p on both cameras to provide a clear picture and a camera lens that covers a wide enough angle to capture the entire interior of your vehicle. It should also automatically shift into night mode at night to maintain clear pictures.
It is also a great idea to subscribe to an app that periodically uploads your footage onto a cloud to ensure you always have access to it should the cam be damaged or lost.
A rider in Tennessee allegedly assaulted and raped their Uber driver for 90 minutes, according to WVLT. The police could not find the driver's exact location the whole time, which suggests that Uber's GPS tracking technology is not foolproof and a backup is needed.
A covertly hidden GPS tracking device attached to your car will ensure your location is trackable as long as you are in the car. This is a valuable solution in case your phone runs out of battery life or if it is taken away from you.
A covertly hidden panic button in the car, which you can easily reach and press in case of emergency, will alert both the police and the tracking company that you have an emergency while showing your exact location, without alerting the criminal in the vehicle with you.
A GPS receiver will also be beneficial in recovering your car if it is stolen and may encourage your insurer to offer you a lower premium.
Install a plastic shield between yourself and the rider at the back, leaving only a small opening for communication or exchanging cash.
This will go a long way in ensuring that the passenger cannot reach into the driver's cabin to attack the driver or grab the steering wheel.
The shield will also help reduce communicable disease transmission if the passenger has an infectious disease and sneezes or coughs. Wearing a mask will also surely go a long way in reducing transmission.
Uber explicitly bans firearms. However, non-lethal devices such as tasers and pepper spray are okay to carry, in accordance with local law.
We certainly do not advocate violence of any kind. And indeed, there are safety tips that an Uber driver can deploy while on the road that will help preempt a crisis before it escalates.
Although most Uber drivers safely interact with their customers every day, some passengers may be unstable, or they may be criminals.
Carrying a non-lethal device for defensive purposes is not a bad idea. However, only use it if attacked as a way to extricate yourself from the situation while you get away and call for help.
If you make most of your trips at night, it is a good idea to consider night driving glasses. Critics have said these glasses don't help you see better at night.
That may be so, and some manufacturers say that their glasses won't work for everyone, but we believe they play a valuable role in reducing reflections and glare from both oncoming headlights and streetlights. This certainly reduces eye fatigue and will improve your alertness, keeping you safe on the road.
These tools and technologies allow you to do the most important thing: deconflict the situation as quickly as possible if things go bad. All these devices and technologies work best when used together and will help keep you safe on the road.
For example, the plexiglass separator will go a long way in denying the passenger at the back the ability to reach forward and attack the driver, giving them time to stop the vehicle or drive to a public place. The panic button, on the other hand, will summon help to the driver's location. The dash cam will record everything for the authorities.
Kariuki is a social media writer. He also closely follows entertainment, cryptocurrency and folks like Tesla, SpaceX and Apple.
Join our newsletter for tech tips, reviews, free ebooks, and exclusive deals!