On Thursday , Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi annunciate that the ride - deal company will revolve out a act of new safety feature of speech to protect both rider and driver . It ’s certainly a positive and much - needed move from a company that has resisted introducing these feature despite get a past pocked withsexual assaultandmurders .
In the web log postal service , Khosrowshahi notes that the Uber app will soon have a affright button - similar feature . Users will be able to press an emergency button within the app that will connect them with an emergency responder . Users have the power to send their emplacement to a 911 manipulator in existent time . Drivers will also shortly have entree to this feature . ( Interestingly , in a Cosmopolitan profileof former Uber White House Frances Frei from August of last yr , Frei said that the company was “ working on sensors that would heighten safety . ” When Gizmodo pressed Uber on the features , they claim that it was inaccurate , and Cosmopolitan finally issued a correction . )
Aside from the real - time panic button , Khosrowshahi also said that the company is swan out a dedicated Safety Center in the app that will let in “ tips work up in partnership with natural law enforcement , equipment driver screening processes , insurance auspices and biotic community guidelines . ” Riders will also be able-bodied to choose five “ Trusted Contacts , ” or people that they can easy share their trip item with .
Beyond equipping rider with more safety tools , the company will also be amping up its screening process . It will conduct annual setting check in all jurisdictions as well as get notification whenever a driver is involve in a criminal offense . “ We will investigate and verify any potentially disqualifying entropy from public book , such as a new and pending charge for a DUI , to ensure the driver is still eligible to use Uber , ” Khosrowshahi wrote . The chief operating officer made no mention , however , of plan torun fingerprint background checks , which cities across the US have inquire drive - sharing society to do .
Khosrowshahi add that former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson will join the company ’s Safety Advisory Board as the first chair of the board , which was formed in 2015 .
It ’s bully to see Uber “ Getting serious about rubber , ” as Khosrowshahi ’s blog post is titled , and the aforementioned feature and updates do indicate that Uber is , in fact , getting serious . One might reason , though , that a company in the business of push back people around should have been serious about condom at its origin .
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