UBER SAFETY

UBER SAFETY

Rideshare horror stories are coming up one after another. Make sure you won’t be the next one to be in that situation.

n our article, “Living Without a Car in the United States,” we introduced ridesharing apps such as Uber or Lyft as a convenient way to get around town when public transportation is not an option and you don’t have access to a private vehicle. The chances of your stepping into a vehicle of a driver with bad intentions are pretty negligible when compared to that of riding in a car with your average friendly driver, but CNN has concluded in its investigation in April 2018 that 103 Uber drivers were “accused of sexually assaulting or abusing their passengers” in a four-year time frame.

In addition, cases have been reported in which predators posed as Uber drivers. Read an article by the New York Times about some of those cases here.

We, at American Lifestyle, thought that it is imperative for us to share the safety precautions that everyone should be taking before hopping on that Uber or what-you-thought-was-an-Uber.

Double and Triple Check the Vehicle

It’s easy to match a red Nissan Sentra or a blue Toyota Camry you see in the App with the physical rideshare car, but with millions of these vehicles running on the American roads, it only takes some bad luck for an unlucky coincidence to happen. After recognizing the vehicle’s make, model, and color; make sure to match the car’s license plate as well.

Also, Uber has a convenient system in which you or the driver can select a unique color. The same color appears on your smartphone and on the Uber logo mounted on the windshield of the Uber vehicle. It’s a useful feature that helps you out if you’re not a car master, and even if you are, it serves as an enhanced safety measure.

Double and Triple Check Your Driver

When the Uber App matches you with a driver, you should be able to see the driver’s face photo. From our experience, all of the drivers had a realistic selfie of their faces taken from the front.

Wait for your driver to greet you by name. Your driver can see your name in their App, and at the very least, they should ask for your name.

We would almost always discourage anyone from being judgmental of others, and it’s probably true most of the times if a different person shows up saying that they are filling in for a friend, sibling, spouse, or whoever they say; but your safety is never worth placing in jeopardy. Your running 10 minutes late to class or work will always be better than never making it.

Don’t Give Away Hints of Vacancy

Headed to the airport? Yes, we know you’re excited and tempted to talk about your vacay in Hawaii. Good for you that you’re going on that well-deserved vacation, but think twice before bragging about sipping on your Piña Colada on the beach.

away that your house will be vacated for a substantial amount of time. Instead of giving a clue that your home is open for unwanted intruders, give hints that someone is going to stay in the house. Have someone wave at the door and see you off as you leave. If not, talk about how the rest of the family can’t go with you. Make up a situation of how your brother was nagging you for the past three hours that he couldn’t go. Make up an imaginary cousin’s-mother’s-brother-in-law’s-neighbor’s-uncle’s-wife’s-best-friend that will be in your house if you have to.

If you’re really desperate to brag about your Hawaii vacation, just wait a couple of hours until you get on board the plane and do so to the person sitting next to you who’s probably going to the same destination as you are, and you will both share the excitement.

Before you head out to your vacation, make sure to read our

“8 Basics to Keep a Home Safe”

for some of the things everyone should be doing to minimize theft and burglary.

To Sum it Up

You most likely will not end up with a horror story from hopping on an Uber or any other rideshare vehicle in the United States. Still, we would want to take the necessary steps to ensure our safety to our very best, and at the minimum, we recommend you to do the followings every time before you ride a rideshare car:

1. Check that the physical vehicle’s make, model, and color matches those shown in the App.
2. Match the actual license plate of the vehicle to the one written in the App.
3. Make sure that the driver is actually the driver by matching their face with the photo in the App and have them address you by your name upon pickup.
4. Suggest that someone is present in the home after you leave.

Uber has their list of safety tips on their official website. We highly recommend you to review their suggestions by clicking here.