U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal is pressing Uber and Lyft to institute more stringent policies to protect riders against sexual assault and harassment, including instituting fingerprint-based background checks on their drivers.
At least two incidents of sexual assault by drivers for app-based, ride-hailing services have been reported in Connecticut this year. In July, a convicted felon driving for Uber was charged with sexually assaulting a young woman riding with him in Fairfield. That same month, a former Uber driver was charged with sexually assaulting an intoxicated female passenger whom he picked up in Stamford in February. The driver was later hired by Lyft.
A CNN investigation last year found that at least 103 Uber drivers nationwide have been accused of sexual assault or abuse.
Calling the assaults “absolutely heartbreaking and gut-wrenching,” Blumenthal — who is a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee — said Thursday that he had recently written letters to Uber and Lyft demanding more be done to protect riders.
“What we’ve seen over the past year or so are repeated reports of sexual assaults that are disregarded or treated dismissively by Uber and Lyft,” he said Thursday at a news conference at Union Station in Hartford.
Blumenthal said the ride-hailing companies have a “trust responsibility” to riders, especially women, who often choose to use their services because they feel it is safer than driving or walking home themselves.
He raised concerns that, in Connecticut and nationwide, drivers who have committed sexual crimes have continued to drive — or have been banned by one company and hired by another.
“Safety is fundamental to Lyft, which is why since day one we have worked hard to design policies and features that protect riders and drivers,” Lyft spokesman Adrian Durbin said last month, responding to Blumenthal’s letter. “We are eager to engage with Senator Blumenthal and other policymakers to increase awareness and understanding of Lyft’s ongoing safety efforts.”
Lyft’s current safety measures include criminal background checks, continuous criminal monitoring and an option to call 911 within the app, Campbell Matthews, a spokesperson for the company, said in a statement Thursday. The company argues fingerprint-based background checks rely on “incomplete arrest records rather than convictions.” Last month, Lyft announced a partnership with the anti-sexual violence organization RAINN to create mandatory sexual violence education programs for drivers.
Uber said last month it would soon launch a feature allowing users who encounter uncomfortable situations to report the offense in real time to safety specialists. The function, soon to be available in a section of the ride-hailing app called the safety tool kit, can alert Uber to a problem without the need to involve authorities, the company said. That will help riders address safety issues they may encounter on trips that don’t rise to the level of an emergency.
Other safety features will also be rolled out, including limited access to text-to-911, allowing riders to transmit trip details such as the car’s make and model, location and license plate number to authorities with an auto-populated message. The company added a “panic button” — an option to call 911 from within the app — last year to an on-screen area in the safety tool kit, where the new features will reside.
Blumenthal said that the companies need to do more, including fingerprint-based background checks, sharing information between companies when riders file complaints about drivers and immediately providing information to law enforcement when riders report sexual assault or harassment.
“Sexual violence should not be a consequence of getting a ride,” said Beth Hamilton, the deputy director of the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence, at the news conference, backing Blumenthal’s demand for stricter regulation of the companies.
She said that her organization has been working with the victims of assaults by ride-hailing drivers for years.
“Our hotline staff has taken calls from women harassed and violated by drivers who then drop them off at their homes, at their workplaces or at their schools,” she said.
In a Sept. 25 letter to the CEOs of Uber and Lyft, Blumenthal asked the companies to explain how they handle reports of sexual assault or harassment and to commit to stricter policies to prevent future incidents.
He wrote that while Uber has implemented daily criminal background checks — which has removed 20,000 drivers from the app — the company has “aggressively resisted” instituting fingerprint-based background checks.
“There’s no question that these measures ought to be done,” Blumenthal said Thursday. “If they can’t get safety right, they will be out of business.”
Information from The Washington Post is included in this report.
Eliza Fawcett can be reached at elfawcett@courant.com.
