Over the last decade, rideshares have become ubiquitous. “Calling a Lyft/Uber” has replaced “calling a cab” in standard parlance when catching a ride. Unfortunately, the rideshare companies have been accused of doing far too little to protect drivers and passengers from the dangers associated with picking up strangers at all hours of the day and night. On August 31, Lyft was hit with 17 lawsuits filed by drivers and passengers who claim to have been physically or sexually assaulted during rides.

The lawsuits, filed in California state court, allege that the San Francisco-based ride-share giant failed to protect riders and drivers from assault. Eleven passengers and two drivers allege they were sexually assaulted while driving for or riding with Lyft. At least four more plaintiffs allege they were physically assaulted during rides. According to attorneys for the plaintiffs, the aim of the lawsuits is to force Lyft to hear the aggrieved victims, “force Lyft to protect its users, and drastically reduce the number of violent acts during Lyft rides in the future.” Lyft “has a responsibility to protect its passengers and drivers” and “its refusal to do so has resulted in acts of violence that left our clients with disabilities, permanent deformities, and lifelong trauma.”

The complaint alleges that Lyft has a “history of hiring sexual predators.” The lawsuit also alleges that Lyft’s deliberate classification of drivers as independent contractors instead of employees directly contributed to the plaintiffs’ injuries.

A few of the named plaintiffs spoke out publicly to share their stories. According to one passenger, for example, a Lyft driver attacked her after giving her a ride home from an evening with friends. He spent the ride making unwanted sexual advances, telling the plaintiff he wanted to get a hotel room and smoke methamphetamine. Upon arriving at the destination, he locked the doors, grabbed her phone from her hand, and sexually assaulted her. He then threatened her against telling anyone, stating: “Don’t tell anyone, remember I know where you live and where your friend lives now.”

According to the young woman, Lyft did nothing to help after she reported the incident: “When I contacted Lyft and reported the assault, they didn’t care about what happened to me. They didn’t even follow up with me about it.” She stated that she hopes the lawsuit will push Lyft to take appropriate steps to protect drivers and passengers. “They need to invest in more safety features like dash cams to record the rides. Sexual abuse in Lyft rides needs to stop. We all deserve a safe ride experience. Nobody should go through the trauma that still haunts me today.”

Other drivers and passengers shared similar stories and sentiments, while some additional plaintiffs preferred to remain anonymous. The allegations paint a harrowing picture for both drivers and passengers. The plaintiffs want Lyft to take responsibility for these issues and take proactive steps to prevent future assaults. In addition to dash cams, the plaintiffs suggest training for drivers on how to handle these types of incidents, better background checks for drivers, and alleviation of other problems that add to the risk for drivers and passengers. For example, “Lyft fails to consistently make an alert if the driver diverts substantially from the correct route or fails to reach the destination, either of which can be a sign of a physical or sexual assault.” Moreover, the app allows users to arrange rides for other people, which means that drivers may have no information about the rider actually in their vehicle.

For its part, Lyft claims that it performs rigorous background checks on all drivers, including continuous criminal monitoring and annual background check updates. Lyft claims to have “instituted processes to proactively detect and take action against unsafe rider behavior, including temporarily and permanently deactivating accounts, blocking users from creating new accounts, and requiring riders to submit additional information before requesting a ride.”

Lyft touts the fact that only .0002% of their rides between 2017 and 2019 involved reports of sexual assault. According to their own Community Safety Report, however, that amounts to a total of 4,158 instances of sexual assault--including 1,807 in 2019 alone.