Uber Announces Tighter Security Including Annual Background Checks for Drivers
In an effort to protect passenger safety, Uber has announced that it will be conducting annual background checks on its drivers. Although Uber is a company that has conducted background checks for years, checks have only been re-ran in areas where it is required to do so by law. In an effort to improve customer safety, Uber will now make annual background checks standard for all drivers, in addition to working closely with a company which continuously monitors criminal arrests in order to ensure that all information is as up-to-date as possible.
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#1. The Importance of Background Checks:
In recent years, Uber has come under scrutiny after several incidents were reported by passengers. In the UK, an Uber driver has recently been sentenced to twelve years in prison at Southwark Crown Court after raping a passenger in the back of his taxi before taking a selfie with her. At the end of last month, a CNN report found that over one hundred Uber drivers have been accused of sexual assault or abuse in the past four years. In November last year, Uber driver John David Sanchez was sentenced to eighty years in prison for the rape of an Uber passenger who passed out drunk in his taxi, in addition to a huge thirty-three other sexual assault counts against him.
#2. Expansion of Safety Board:
In addition to tightening background check requirements, Uber is also expanding their Safety Advisory Board, including the appointment of their first board chairman; Jeh Johnson, who is also the former U.S. secretary of Homeland Security. These changes are some of the first big moves put forward by Uber’s new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, who was appointed to the position last August after a number of scandals hit the company when it was led by former CEO and co-founder, Travis Kalanick.
#3. Improved Safety Features:
Along with more stringent background checks and a new Safety Advisory chairman, Uber’s new CEO is also making steps to ensure that rides are safer for individual passengers. Uber’s popular taxi-booking app has seen a range of updates to ensure passenger safety, including ways to easily share trip information with trusted contacts and 911 assistance that enables passengers to quickly get in touch with and send trip and location information to local authorities.
#4. Uber Drivers are in Favor:
In general, Uber drivers tend to be in favor of the increased security measures surrounding their job. Leonard Phillips, a North Carolina Uber driver, says he is ‘all for’ increased security features to improve the safety of both the rider and the driver. He, like many other Uber drivers, says that he’s not worried about more regular background checks since he knows nothing will be found which will affect his driving. If you are thinking of becoming an Uber driver, you can find out what’s likely to show up on a background check by using the free service available at Free Records Registry.
With Uber under more scrutiny than ever before thanks to a number of driver offences and scandals, tightening security around the job can only be a good idea.
Author: Carol Trehearn
