Uber releases annual safety report, reveals it received 5,981 reports of sexual assault in 2017 and 2018

Uber has released its highly-anticipated safety report, which revealed 464 incidents of rape in two years in the United States alone.  

In total, there were 5,981 reports of sexual assault in 2017 and 2018,  In 2018, more than 3,000 sexual assaults were reported during its U.S. rides. That figure includes 229 rapes across the company’s 1.3 billion rides.

In 2017, the company counted 2,936 reported sexual assaults during 1 billion U.S. trips. Uber bases its numbers on reports from riders and drivers, meaning the actual numbers could be much higher. Sexual assaults commonly go unreported.

The company noted that drivers and riders were both attacked, and that some assaults occurred between riders. The report, which Uber UBER, touted as the first of its kind, provides a rare look into the traffic deaths, murders and reported sexual assaults that took place during billions of annual rides arranged in the U.S. using Uber’s service.

It is part of the company’s effort to be more transparent after years of criticism over its safety record.

“I suspect many people will be surprised at how rare these incidents are; others will understandably think they’re still too common,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi tweeted about the report.

“Some people will appreciate how much we’ve done on safety; others will say we have more work to do. They will all be right.”

Uber’s share price dropped more than 1% in after-hours trading. Uber and competitor Lyft LYFT, have faced harsh criticism for not doing enough to protect the safety of their riders and drivers. Dozens of women are suing Lyft, claiming the company should have done more to protect them from driver assaults. A Connecticut woman sued Uber last month, claiming she was sexually assaulted by her driver.

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