(Trends Wide) — Ridesharing company Lyft released its first safety report on Thursday, revealing that it received 4,158 reports of sexual assault on its platform in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
The disclosure comes more than three years after Lyft and rival Uber first pledged to publish safety reports revealing incidents of sexual assault and abuse on their platforms following a Trends Wide investigation.
The company’s statement shows that among the complaints of sexual assault it received, 360 were complaints of rape. It also reported 10 deaths from physical assaults that occurred on its platform during the three years.
In May 2018, following Trends Wide’s investigation into incidents of sexual assault and abuse by ride-sharing platform drivers, both Uber and Lyft pledged to release safety transparency reports that would reveal internal data on the most serious incidents. on their platforms. In late 2019, Uber released its first report, revealing that it had received 5,981 reports of sexual assault from passengers and drivers in the previous two years, including 464 reports of rape. Lyft had not met its own deadlines so far.
In an effort to contextualize the data they have released, both companies said the vast majority of trips (or 99.9%) had no reported security incidents for the respective reporting periods.
In an 18-page appendix, linked to the last page of its 16-page safety report, Lyft indicated that riders reported 52% of sexual assault incidents, while complaints initiated by drivers made up 38%.
Another 10% were initiated by third parties, which according to the appendix may be “law enforcement officials, regulators, family, friends, or media reports.”
The Uber report stated that riders accounted for 56% of reported sexual assault incidents, and drivers for 42%.
Although Lyft has benefited from Uber’s very public struggles with its reputation over the years and is often portrayed as the friendly alternative, the two companies have faced similar problems when it comes to passenger safety. . However, Lyft has lagged behind in adding safety features to address the concerns.
Some of the features that Lyft established in recent years include a way to contact 911 through the app, as well as a feature that claims to contact passengers or drivers if it detects that something irregular may have occurred, such as a detour. of the route.
Both companies have faced in recent years a series of legal claims by users for alleged incidents on their platforms.
Uber is scheduled to release its second transparency report later this year. Lyft has not made a commitment to publish any future reports on the matter.