THE STUDY THE COMPANY SAYS IS ITS EFFORT TO GIVE CUSTOMERS
ANSWERS.
ANSWERS. FOR THOSE WHO TAKE UBER, THE
NUMBERS WILL LIKELY SOUND
ALARMING, ACCORDING TO UBER’S
STUDY OVER THE COURSE OF 2017
AND 2018, THERE WERE NEARLY
6,000 REPORTED SEXUAL ASSAULTS
DURING OR AFTER AN UBER RIDE,
RANGING FROM GROPING TO RAPE.
THE MOST SEVERE OF THOSE
ASSAULTS, RAPE, BEING REPORTED
464 TIMES.
464 TIMES. THAT’S ROUGHLY FOUR REPORTED
RAPES EVERY WEEK.
ONE IN EVERY 5 MILLION RIDES.
>> I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE THAT
ABOUT HALF OF THE VICTIMS ARE
RIDERS AND THE OTHER HALF ARE
DRIVERS.
DRIVERS. >> THAT’S RIGHT.
AND SO THIS IS NOT JUST A
ONE-SIDED PROBLEM.
ONE-SIDED PROBLEM. WE HAVE TO KEEP IN MIND THAT
BOTH DRIVERS AND RIDE REVERSERS
VICTIMS.
VICTIMS. >> Reporter: TONY WEST, UBER’S
CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER, THE COMPANY
IS COMMITTED TO SAFETY CONCERNS,
RELEASING THESE NUMBERS PUBLICLY
IS PART OF THE COMMITMENT.
>> WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THAT
COMPLAINT IS MADE?
>> THAT COMPLAINT IS ACTUALLY
TAKEN AND SENT TO A SPECIAL
UNIT.
UNIT. >> Reporter: IN ESSENCE, AN
INVESTIGATE I HAVE
INVESTIGATIVE ARM.
INVESTIGATIVE ARM. >> IT’S AN INVESTIGATIVE ARM.
>> Reporter: HOW IS A TECH
COMPANY QUALIFIED TO HAVE THAT
KIND OF INVESTIGATIVE ARM.
>> WELL, I THINK INHERENTLY, NO
COMPANY IS PROBABLY QUALIFIED TO
HAVE THAT ARM.
THAT IS WHY YOU HAVE TO REACH
OUT TO EXPERTS IN THE FIELD.
>> Reporter: ACCORDING TO THE
STUDY, UBER IS AWARE OF LAW
ENFORCEMENT’S INVOLVEMENT IN 37%
OF THE REPORTED RAPE CASES.
>> THAT NUMBER SEEMS KIND OF LOW
TO ME, JUST 37%.
>> I’LL TELL YOU, ONE OF THE
FACTS ABOUT SEXUAL ASSAULT IS
THAT IT IS A VERY UNDER REPORTED
OFFENSE.
OFFENSE. UBER SHOULDN’T MAKE THAT CHOICE
FOR SURVIVORS.
FOR SURVIVORS. SURVIVORS SHOULD MAKE THAT
CHOICE FOR THEMSELVES.
>> Reporter: IT ALSO OPENS UP
THE POSSIBILITY THAT UBER IS
AWARE OF SOMEONE WHO POTENTIALLY
RAPED SOMEONE ELSE WHO’S OUT IN
THE PUBLIC WITHOUT INVOLVING LAW
ENFORCEMENT.
ENFORCEMENT. >> AS SOMEONE WHO IS A FORMER
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL, I
UNDERSTAND THE TENSION.
WE HAVE LOTS OF INFORMATION
ABOUT AN INCIDENT THAT WE WILL
SHARE WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT IF WE
GET THE CONSENT OF THE VICTIM.
>> Reporter: UBER’S STUDY
REVEALS THAT MORE THAN 40,000
DRIVERS WERE BANNED IN THE U.S.
IN THE LAST TWO YEARS AS PART OF
CONTINUING BACKGROUND CHECKS.
FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS,
INCLUDING SEXUAL MISCONDUCT.
UBER ANNOUNCING THAT THEY PLAN
TO SHARE THOSE NAMES WITH OTHER
RIDE SHARE COMPANIES INCLUDING
LYFT!
LYFT! WHEN YOU FIRST APPROACHED SEXUAL
VIOLENCE ADVOCATES WITH THIS
IDEA WERE THEY SURPRISED WITH
WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO.
>> WHENEVER WE TOLD ANYONE WHAT
WE WERE PLANNING TO DO WITH THIS
REPORT BY COUNTING THE INCIDENTS
AND THEN RELEASING THE DATA
PUBLICLY, I THINK IT SURPRISED
EVERYBODY.
EVERYBODY. >> Reporter: SEXUAL VIOLENCE
ADVOCATE KAREN BAKER WORKED WITH
UBER ON THE STUDY AND CALLS IT
UNPRECEDENTED.
UNPRECEDENTED. >> Reporter: WHAT DO YOU HOPE
OTHER COMPANIES TAKE AWAY?
>> ALTHOUGH THIS IS A DIFFICULT
TOPIC, NO ONE WANTS TO THINK
ABOUT SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND
SEXUAL ASSAULT, IT IS HAPPENING
IN THEIR SPACE, WHAT THEY CAN DO
IS BE OPEN AND HONEST ABOUT IT.
>> Reporter: UBER IS ALSO
ROLLING OUT NEW SAFETY MEASURES
IN THE WAKE OF THIS REPORT.
PASSENGERS AND DRIVERS WILL BE
ABLE TO CONTACT 911 DIRECTLY
FROM THE APP, THAT’S DURING A
RIDE.
RIDE. THEY ARE ALSO INTRODUCING NEW
PIN CODES TO ENSURE THAT
PASSENGERS GET IN THE RIGHT CAR
AND THEY ARE NOW DOING
CONTINUOUS BACKGROUND CHECKS ON
DRIVERS.
DRIVERS. THAT MEANS A DRIVER HAS TO GO
THROUGH A BACKGROUND CHECK,
GUYS, AND THEN THEY CONTINUE TO
CHECK UP ON THAT DRIVER OVER THE
COURSE OF THEIR EMPLOYMENT.
>> A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE NOTICING
THAT YOU SAID THE NUMBERS THAT
UBER RELEASED, HALF OF THE
VICTIMS WERE DRIVERS.
>> Reporter: I FOUND THAT VERY
SURPRISING AS WELL.
NOT HERE IN NEW YORK, I NOTICED
WHEN I GO TO OTHER CITIES, THERE
ARE A LOT OF YOUNG FEMALE
DRIVERS WHO ARE WORKING WITH
UBER AND SO THEY RAISED THE
POINT THAT THIS IS BOTH DRIVERS
AND PASSENGERS.
AND PASSENGERS. GUYS, THE REPORT ALSO TAKES A
LOOK AT FATALITY, THEY LOOK AT
CRASH FATALITIES, AND DURING
THIS TWO-YEAR PERIOD OF TIME,
THERE WERE 107, AND ACCORDING TO
THEIR COMPARISON, THAT’S A
LITTLE LESS THAN HALF OF THE
NATIONAL RATE.
NATIONAL RATE. THEY POINT OUT THAT IT’S A
LITTLE BIT SAFER IN THAT REGARD
TO TRAVEL WITH UBER.