A New York Times probe into Uber's driver screening processes and safety measures revealed inconsistent practices that enable individuals with histories of violent crimes to operate on the ride-sharing service.
The company automatically disqualifies candidates with convictions for homicide, sexual violence, abduction, or terrorist acts. Yet, according to the Times, in 22 states Uber may clear applicants who have records of various other crimes, such as offenses against children, battery, or harassment, provided those incidents occurred over seven years prior. The broad inquiry further indicated that in 35 states, these screenings primarily cover residences from the past seven years, potentially overlooking criminal records from elsewhere.
During a 2017 review in Massachusetts, authorities disqualified over 8,000 ride-hailing operators—roughly 11 percent—who had been previously vetted and accepted. In contrast, Lyft maintains a stricter standard, prohibiting any drivers with prior violent felony records irrespective of the time elapsed since the offense.
The Times examined a 2015 internal memo where Uber leaders outlined plans to redirect public focus on safety away from thorough background verifications toward more affordable programs demonstrated to lower accident rates. Additionally, an email from 2018 sent by Uber's safety communications director at the time labeled the firm's vetting protocol as merely the essential threshold.
The newspaper gathered six instances of grave incidents involving Uber chauffeurs who had earlier violent criminal backgrounds and were subsequently charged by riders with sexual attacks or assaults. In two of these situations, the drivers faced successful prosecutions.
From 2017 through 2022, Uber's American operations logged a complaint of sexual attack or inappropriate conduct roughly once every eight minutes, based on its own records. The firm noted that 75 percent of such complaints involved milder occurrences like overt flirtation or remarks on a passenger's looks, while asserting that 99.9 percent of trips occur without any problems.