Overview
- Consumer Watchdog urged users to avoid Uber and use Lyft and said it has placed billboards in California warning about Uber’s safety record.
- The investigation found that in 22 states Uber can approve applicants with convictions such as child abuse, assault or stalking if they are at least seven years old.
- In 35 states, background checks often focus on where an applicant lived in the prior seven years, which can miss out-of-state convictions.
- Internal Uber documents described a strategy to shift attention away from tougher checks, and a 2018 email called the company’s background-check policy “a bare minimum.”
- Uber reported a sexual assault or misconduct complaint roughly every eight minutes from 2017 to 2022; the company says 99.9% of rides are incident-free and notes it bars crimes like murder and rape, while Lyft bans drivers with any violent felony convictions.