How Safe is your Uber or Grab?

Some worrying stats from where Automologist MAC hailed from has him questioning the safety of getting into ride-hailing cars.

Uber has, through its brief existence, teetered from one controversy to another. Their meteoric growth is probably a part of the problem, with control mechanisms being outpaced by the rate of growth. However, in a very worrying report from the UK Police, it was announced that Uber drivers are linked to one sex attack per week, in London alone!

One of the problems is that there are virtually no security checks on the drivers, many of whom are working in the underground economy and are in fact illegally in the country. Another problem is the fact that many of the passengers take the cabs on their own, and late at night after an alcohol-laced night out, putting themselves in a very vulnerable position, unfortunately.

I am from London and back in the day when you wanted a cab, you either had to wait at the side of a road and hope a licensed Hackney Cab came by, or, you had to call a taxi service and book a radio cab. When I first encountered an Uber-like service, it was many years ago in Singapore and I fell in love with the idea. Here, now, I could get directly in touch with a driver and guide him to my location.

Of course, not knowing whether the meter was legit or not—and certainly some cab rides I have taken over the years were done so in taxis where some tomfoolery had been undertaken with the meter—was a constant source of worry and irritation as well. Of course, these concerns would be very much secondary if I were a lone female trying to get home safely after a night out.

So, Uber, in particular, has become a huge hit in the UK, and there are now more Uber-registered drivers than there are Hackney Cab drivers. Uber has offered a much needed meeting of technology and demand that many believe is the way of the future, but although the management claims it is safe to take an Uber, it still looks like the company still has something to sort out in their recruitment of new drivers.

Source: Reuters via Daily Mail