Lyft Says 1,807 Sexual Assaults Occurred in Rides in 2019

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Much more than 1,800 sexual assaults happened in the course of Lyft rides in 2019, the firm mentioned on Thursday in its initially-at any time protection report on sexual and actual physical assaults, deadly crashes and other really serious incidents.

Lyft’s protection report experienced been lengthy awaited in the experience-hailing sector, as the firm is struggling with lawsuits from victims of sexual assaults that occurred all through rides. It committed to releasing its sexual assault data in 2019, when Uber produced a identical report.

“While safety incidents on our platform are incredibly uncommon, we notice that even just one is much too many,” Lyft’s head of policy improvement and investigation, Jennifer Brandenburger, mentioned in a website submit on Thursday. “Behind every single report is a true particular person and real encounter.”

The 1,807 sexual assaults for the duration of Lyft rides in 2019, the most latest year for facts in the report, have been a 64 p.c raise from 2017, the company stated. But mainly because the number of rides rose even more quickly, basic safety enhanced in general, Lyft said, with the incident amount of sexual assaults declining 19 per cent all through that time period.

Four folks were killed all through physical assaults in 2019, and 49 were killed through motor vehicle incidents, Lyft stated in the report.

“The kind of security incidents in depth in this report occurred on .0002 p.c of rides, and effectively over 99 per cent of all rides arise without having any security report at all,” Ms. Brandenburger reported.

The figures are in line with comparable incidents on Uber’s platform. Uber reported in its 2019 safety report that the variety of sexual assaults on its platform the preceding yr represented just .0002 p.c of all rides.

Rachel Abrams, a lawyer who represents about 1,000 sexual assault victims in lawsuits against Uber and Lyft, reported the report from Lyft was extensive overdue. “We’ve all been ready for it,” she stated.

“They are not applying the security steps to stop this from going on, and it’s just likely to retain mounting,” Ms. Abrams included. She claimed Lyft ought to include online video surveillance in its cars to monitor for protection issues.

Lyft mentioned it was doing the job to make its platform as risk-free as doable, requiring drivers to undertake rigorous history checks and supplying riders basic safety look at-ins and crisis aid throughout rides that veer off course.