Leading Rideshare Companies Launch Industry Sharing Safety Program in the U.S.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Uber and Lyft today announced the Industry Sharing Safety Program, a first-of-its-kind effort to share information about the drivers and delivery people deactivated from each company’s platform for the most serious safety incidents including sexual assault and physical assaults resulting in a fatality.

The goal of the Program is to further enhance the safety of the entire ridesharing industry and equip companies with important safety information to protect their customers. Lyft and Uber will share information about driver deactivations related to the five most critical safety issues within the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s (NSVRC) Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Violence Taxonomy, along with physical assault fatalities.

The information sharing will be administered by HireRight, an industry-leading workforce solutions provider that will collect and manage the data from individual companies, match and share information between the companies, and ensure that each company is abiding by best practices and industry standards informed by sexual violence prevention experts and the NSVRC Taxonomy.

The companies have worked with HireRight to develop a survivor-centric, comprehensive process that incorporates learnings from anti-sexual violence advocates over the past several years and prioritizes safety, privacy and fairness for both drivers and survivors.

Moving forward, the Program will be open to other transportation and delivery network companies within the United States. Participants must agree to specific requirements including meeting data accuracy expectations, applying the shared taxonomy to consistently classify incident reports, maintaining consistent and fair handling procedures and privacy measures, and communicating data on deactivated drivers with HIreRight to be shared with the other participants.

“Safety should never be proprietary. You should be safe no matter what ridesharing platform you choose. We’re thrilled to come together with Lyft to improve safety for the entire industry,” said Tony West, senior vice president and chief legal officer at Uber. “Tackling these tough safety issues is bigger than any one of us and this new Industry Sharing Safety Program demonstrates the value of working collaboratively with experts, advocates and others to make a meaningful difference. We encourage more companies to join us.”

“Sexual assault is drastically underreported, making these crimes less likely to show up in our rigorous background check and screening processes,” said Jennifer Brandenburger, head of policy development at Lyft. “With the Industry Sharing Safety Program, Lyft and Uber are working together to further enhance our screening capabilities, as well as the safety of the entire rideshare industry.”

“Uber and Lyft have demonstrated thoughtful leadership with the Industry Sharing Safety Program. By putting aside competition, they are placing users first and building a safer rideshare community for all,” said Scott Berkowitz, RAINN president and founder. “Sexual violence thrives in secrecy. Thanks to this initiative, perpetrators will no longer be able to hide or escape accountability by simply switching ridesharing platforms.”

The National Action Network applauds Uber and Lyft for coming together to create the Industry Sharing Safety Program,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network. “Preventing serious safety incidents like sexual assault takes cooperation, even from industry competitors, and your work here will benefit everyone in the industry.”

“Today Drive Forward commends Uber and Lyft for putting the safety of rideshare first, just as our over 2,000 gig-worker members do every day on the roads of Washington State,” said Michael Wolfe, executive director, Drive Forward. “We agree that, after a thorough deactivation review process, drivers committing these profoundly serious infractions should be held accountable for their actions by being removed from the platforms, so riders can feel confident their driver is safe. As a fellow rideshare driver, I also do not want people who abuse the trust riders place in us to be giving rides, as it makes our jobs harder and damages all drivers’ reputations.”