UBER OFFERS RIDERS 911 SAFETY TOOL
Pilot program live in Hub
Uber, often criticized for a perceived lack of attention to safety, is launching a new pilot in Boston and a handful of other U.S. cities that will automatically send a rider’s exact location and ride details to police if they press an emergency button.
“Every day, our technology puts millions of people together in cars in cities around the world,” Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of Uber, wrote in a blog post. “Helping keep people safe is a huge responsibility, and one we do not take lightly.”
The pilot, which is live in Boston, uses a partnership with RapidSOS to send location, car information and other details directly to police dispatchers once a rider presses an emergency button inside the app. The emergency button replaces another that would call police, but would not give authorities any more information.
“Federal regulators estimate about 10,000 lives could be saved every year if first responders were able to get to a 911 caller just one minute faster,” Khosrowshahi wrote. “If a rider uses Uber’s emergency button in one of our pilot cities, their location and trip details will be automatically sent to the 911 dispatcher.”
Boston has seen a number of high-profile incidents with Uber drivers in recent years, including one with Alejandro Done, an Uber driver and a serial rapist who attacked women on the Esplanade for years before he was caught. Earlier this year, Uber driver Ranjan Thapa was arrested and charged with rape after attacking a female passenger.
Uber announced a number of other new safety features yesterday, including stronger driver background checks and annual rechecks of drivers who have already passed. The company will also detect unusual or unexpected stops in a ride, and check in with both the driver and rider.
“This is just the beginning of the journey for Uber,” Khosrowshahi said yesterday during the company’s unveiling of the new features in New York City. “We want Uber to be the safest transportation platform on the planet.”
Khosrowshahi has made safety one of his top priorities since taking over as CEO a year ago. In April, Uber started doing annual criminal background checks on U.S. drivers and hired a company to constantly monitor criminal arrests.
The moves are an attempt to repair Uber’s reputation after a wave of major scandals and bad press. Since it began operating in 2009, Uber has been dogged by reports of drivers accosting passengers, including lawsuits alleging sexual assaults. Last year, the company was fined $8.9 million by the state of Colorado for allowing people with serious criminal or motor vehicle offenses to work as drivers. The Public Utilities Commission said it found nearly 60 people were allowed to drive in the state despite having previous felony convictions or major traffic violations including drunken driving.