New safety rules for Uber, Lyft in effect

Requirement for drivers’ training course won’t be ready before February

New rules for Toronto’s Uber and Lyft drivers are now in effect, yet one of the most vital changes meant to improve public safety is still in development — and won’t be fully implemented until next year.

When council amended the vehiclefor-hire rules last July, it made it mandatory for all drivers to complete a cityapproved training program, a requirement it highlighted in a press release Thursday, among other major changes.

The city, however, has yet to complete the requirements of the course, meaning it’s not yet available to drivers and likely won’t be until at least February.

The revisions to the bylaw state new drivers don’t have to prove they’ve taken the course until June 1 and drivers who are already licensed have until the end of the year.

“The really critical part of that whole package is the training,” said Cheryl

Hawkes, whose son, Nicholas Cameron, 28, was killed while travelling in an Uber vehicle in 2018.

Hawkes’ son and his girlfriend were en route to Pearson airport when their driver, Abdihared Bishar-Mussa, 23, pulled over on the Gardiner Expressway after his cellphone fell to the floor. While pulling back into a live lane, the car was struck by another vehicle.

It was Bishar-Mussa’s second day driving for Uber. He lost his licence for a year after pleading guilty to careless

UBER continued on GT6

NEW YORK— Uber is offering riders a four-digit pin code to help ensure they’re getting into the right car.

The ride-hailing company rolled out the new feature across the U.S. and Canada on Tuesday and said all riders in the two countries will be able to use pin codes by the end of the week.

The development follows the death of 21-year-old Samantha (Sami) Josephson, who was murdered in March after getting into the car of a man impersonating an Uber driver. Her body was later found in the woods 105 kilometres away.

Since then, states have been pushing for additional safety requirements for Uber drivers. In New Jersey, the state passed a law requiring ride-hailing drivers to display identification signs on the car’s front windshield and rear window. North Carolina passed a law requiring Uber and Lyft drivers to display lighted signs.

With the new feature, Uber sends a four-digit pin code to the rider. Then, before getting into the car, the rider tells the driver the pin code. The driver enters the pin code into the app, and if everything matches up, the rider gets a notification that says “your ride is verified.”

“They can see the confirmation before getting into the vehicle and they don’t have to take the driver’s word for it,” said Rebecca Payne, senior product manager at Uber, who helped develop the feature.