Uber report shows 3,045 sexual assaults, 67 deaths in 1.3B rides in 2018

Dec. 5 (UPI) -- More than 3,000 sexual assaults and 67 deaths were reported during Uber rides in the United States last year, according to the company's first study chronicling safety incidents on the platform.

The report collected data on Uber's 1.3 billion rides within the United States last year, finding that there were 3,045 sexual assaults, nine fatal assaults and 58 fatal crashes in 2018.

Overall, these incidents occurred in only a fraction of Uber rides with sexual assault occurring on 0.0002 percent of rides, motor vehicle fatalities on 0.000005 percent and fatal physical assaults on 0.000001 percent.

"As the numbers in this report show, critical safety incidents on our platform are, statistically, extremely rare. But even one critical safety incident is unacceptable because it represents the lived experience of someone in the Uber community," the company said. "Our work on safety is never done and we're constantly raising the bar."

In September, Uber announced a series of safety updates including an optional PIN system for riders to confirm they are entering the correct vehicle, send a message directly to 911 operators through the app and report safety incidents to Uber before the end of a trip.

The company also planned expansions to its driver verification protocol requiring drivers to blink, smile or turn their heads in photos they are required to take periodically to confirm their identities.

In Thursday's report, Uber said it has removed more than 40,000 drivers from the app due to its screening process that monitors and flags new criminal offenses after an initial background check.

Uber also pledged to find a way to share the names of drivers who have been banned for safety incidents with other ridesharing platforms and to provide sexual misconduct and assault education to all drivers.