Uber, a company long criticized for not doing enough to protect the safety of their riders and drivers, took a major step toward transparency this month when it released a long-anticipated safety report about rapes, assaults, accidents and deaths during its rides in the U.S. There were more than 3,000 sexual assaults in 2018 alone, with both riders and drivers as the attackers.
Uber noted that the assaults occurred across 1.3 billion rides in the U.S. last year. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi praised the company’s work on safety but acknowledged that people will say it has more work to do. Reaction to the report has been mixed. But even critics — including a lawyer for dozens of women who’ve sued Uber after being assaulted during Uber rides — expressed cautious praise for the company’s efforts at transparency. Investors largely shrugged off the news, sending Uber’s stock down about 1% after the report came out.
What seemed to matter: a report this week that the company may be selling off its food delivery business in India to a local rival. Uber’s stock shot up more than 5% after the Wall Street Journal story came out. Uber declined to comment. Uber’s ride-sharing rival, Lyft, has also been the subject of lawsuits by women who say they were assaulted during rides. It has said it will issue a report, too, but has not done so yet
