In 2019, years after Uber began operations and after years of turning a blind eye to the sexual assault claims against their drivers, the company released its first safety report. In 2018 alone, 3,045 sexual assaults were reported in U.S. rides. Two hundred thirty five of these reports were rape. A likely low number as sexual assault is often an underreported crime.
Having been viewed by many as a safer and more consumer–friendly alternative to Uber, a rash of Lyft lawsuits has made it clear that sexual assaults perpetrated against Lyft customers is just as great a problem as with Uber. Lyft has not released any of the same safety data that Uber has and while Uber was making headlines for reported sexual assaults, Lyft had not been implicated. Thanks to hundreds of lawsuits that have recently been filed by Lyft lawyers, mostly by women, Lyft is now under the same pressure.
Legally, a survivor of sexual assault perpetrated by an Uber, Lyft, or other ridesharing service driver may recover financial compensation from the driver and, more commonly, from the ride sharing company for its failure to protect the customer from the assault, as well as potential failures or deficiencies in its process of reviewing and responding to the survivor’s report of the assault. If you are a survivor of sexual assault and would like to confidentially discuss your situation and your legal options, we are prepared to talk with you.
If you prefer to speak with us directly regarding your incident, please call The Meneo Law Group at 1-866-371-8506 1-866-371-8506 or send us a confidential email.