Ride-sharing sounds like a great idea on the outset: get a ride to the airport, a night out on the town, a friend’s house, etc., from someone looking to earn a little extra money by driving their own car. But is it safe? Uber is promising it will be safer now that they are adding blue checkmarks as a verification system to your account in their app. But is it?
The Safety Issue of Ubers
I started using Uber rides as a method of transportation when I was going out and planned to have some cocktails. It’s safer than getting behind the wheel after I’ve had a few drinks. But is it safe to get in a stranger’s car and be at their mercy?
When my daughter started doing the same thing, it made me nervous. I would make her call me when she got to her destination so that I knew she made it there safely. I instructed her to call me during the drive if she got nervous at all. After all, she was a young woman riding in a stranger’s car, and many times the strangers were men.
There would be stories as well, of cars pulling up to popular destinations with Uber labels on the windshield, fooling people waiting into thinking this was the Uber they’d ordered on the app. I grew accustomed to asking who the Uber driver was waiting for before stepping a foot into their car.
But Uber drivers aren’t necessarily safer either. They know nothing more than what you have entered into the Uber app. They don’t know if you’re carrying a gun and want to rob them. Basically, no one is safe. But no one is safe in a taxi, either.
Uber Issues Blog Post Promising a “Trusted Platform”
Uber announced in a blog post that it is now adding blue checkmarks for verifications purposes to its popular ride-sharing app. This is similar to the blue checkmarks that Twitter added after Elon Musk took over and renamed the social network “X.”
They announced that Uber is building its platform “based on trust between riders and drivers.” They’re launching the rider verification measure in the app to help users and drivers “feel more safe and secure.”
To make the Uber experience “a safe and trusted place to ride and drive,” the company is promising to securely store verification data and encrypt your identification documents. The drivers won’t see anything else about you in the app, other than your first name, your star rating, your verified rider badge (assuming you earn one) and the details of where they’re picking you up and dropping you off. I wasn’t even aware that previously they were seeing any information other than that. That’s a little scary on its own.
Uber will cross-check your account information against third-party data. If your info can’t be validated, you can upload your driver’s license, passport, etc. You may even be asked to provide a selfie. The company acknowledges that this doesn’t guarantee that you are who you say you are and that you behave appropriately, but they do believe it builds trust and accountability. Drivers will see that you have been verified by seeing the blue checkmark on your account.
The driver will be able to see that you’re verified before they pick you up. This may help prevent drivers from canceling your ride after you’ve already been waiting for then for 10 or 15 minutes, causing you to start your search for a ride all over again. They made decide it will be a favorable situation and pick you up, even if you’re in a bad area of town.
Uber already provides data about its drivers. Once they agree to come pick you up, the app shows you the driver’s name, their rating, how many Uber rides they have provided, the make, model and color of their car, and their license plate number. But we don’t know if they have been “verified” by Uber, like we have. Assumably they have been doing this all along, but we don’t really know this when we’re looking at their name in the app on our phones, waiting for a pickup.
In the end run, I appreciate Uber making sure their drivers are safe with us in their cars, but it doesn’t make me feel any safer. I would still have my daughter follow the same rules. And I’m not going to fully relax on the ride either. Safety still remains an issue for me, whether I’m using the Uber app with blue checkmarks, Lyft, or taking a taxi.
Now that Uber is promising that the blue checkmarks will make you safer, you can make your ride more enjoyable by employing these tips and tricks in the Uber app.
Image credit: Unsplash
