Uber released a safety report on Thursday that stated that the rate of reported sexual assaults in its vehicles has decreased by 38%.
Driving the news: The ride-sharing company received a total of 3,824 reports of sexual assault and misconduct between 2019 and 2020, with the riders as the accused party 43% of the time, per CNN.
- The 78-page report also highlighted motor vehicle fatalities, recording 101 individuals dead from crashes, and fatal physical assaults which took the lives of 20 during incidents related to Uber.
- It attributed other findings to risky driving and a rise in violent crime in 2020.
- Data also showcased that 2020 was the deadliest year on U.S. roads since 2007.
What they’re saying: “The change in rate of sexual assault reports over time may have been impacted by a number of factors, including how the COVID-19 pandemic altered usage of the platform as well as Uber’s safety and transparency efforts,” Uber said in the report.
“But each reported incident represents a harrowing lived experience for the survivor. Even one report is one report too many.”
Worth noting: The company saw a decrease in trips booked by as much as 80% in April 2020, during initial COVID-19 lockdowns.
In fact, ridership decreased by 750 million in 2020, compared to the year prior.
On the other side: Cherri Murphy, a spokesperson for driver advocacy group Gig Workers Rising, questioned how safe Uber was for drivers.
- “Uber executives want you to think that throwing numbers and statistics at the reporters will fool us into believing Uber is safe for workers and for passengers,” Murphy said, per The New York Times.
- “But workers have long known that the safety features they speak of are fake, and fail to keep workers safe.”