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The Courts

Lawsuits Filed Against Lyft Alleging Sexual Assaults By Drivers (siliconvalley.com) 53

Slashdot reader Charlotte Web quotes SiliconValley.com: Bay Area ride-hailing giant Lyft is accused in a series of new lawsuits of failing to protect female passengers from rape by drivers. One plaintiff claims she was 15 when her driver raped her and then forced her to take an anti-pregnancy pill. The December legal actions are part of a "mass tort" lawsuit initiated in August 2019 by 20 women alleging sexual assault by Lyft drivers. Several dozen women joined the case soon after, and lawyers for the plaintiffs plan to add hundreds more alleged victims. A trial is scheduled for January 2022... The suits also allege that Lyft "does not cooperate with police when a driver commits an illegal sexual attack on its passengers," requiring that "extensive standards be met" before it will consider police requests for information, and only releasing information in response to a subpoena...

Lyft could, the suits allege, ensure that video is taken and saved of all rides, and the firm could track drivers if they leave their cars for any reason other than to provide temporary help to a passenger, and it could set up a system in which passengers must confirm their intention to significantly change routes or destinations. Lyft said it has developed in-app features allowing riders to share their location with family and friends, and to quickly and easily obtain emergency help from a security firm that can alert police upon a passenger's request.

The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages, including punitive damages.

The firm's rival, Uber, has also faced a torrent of allegations that it doesn't protect female passengers from sexual assault. After admitting last year that thousands of sexual assaults were reported during rides, Uber was fined $59 million this December for allegedly defying demands by California regulators for details about the reported attacks and its responses to them. Uber in response noted that its publicly issued safety report that acknowledged the sexual assaults was an industry first, and the San Francisco company described regulators' efforts to obtain details as a violation of victims' privacy.

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Lawsuits Filed Against Lyft Alleging Sexual Assaults By Drivers

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  • by presearch ( 214913 ) on Saturday January 02, 2021 @02:48PM (#60888130)

    They discovered that the taxi business has dark underside!

  • by sarren1901 ( 5415506 ) on Saturday January 02, 2021 @03:06PM (#60888192)

    but does it really come as a surprise? Just search rape by taxi driver. You'll get quite a few unique results. I'm not entirely sure what Lyft, Uber and the taxi companies can do about this beyond doing a background check before hiring.

    Adding cameras into the car is a start I suppose but since the entire car is maintained by the driver, it doesn't seem to much a stretch to think would be driver-rapist would just disable the camera for a temporary period of time or perhaps right after the ride started.

    Lyft should definitely work with police though not sure what information Lyft has on each driver beyond perhaps a home address, bank account and phone number. Maybe a social security number. That's definitely helpful information and it's quite surprising this information wouldn't be handed over to the police investigating a rape.

    I would think the best way to prevent this may be to let female riders hail female drivers. Also don't let give male riders the same privilege so they can't specifically hail a female driver to prey upon. Men make up the majority of people prosecuted for sexual assault so this should hit most cases. Yes, I know men rape men as well and sometimes you even have a woman raping someone but it's an outlier.

    P.S. Only ever used Uber once after a concert so no idea if these apps now let you do what I suggested.

    • Uber has been pushing/advertising safety features hard [youtube.com]. At least they were just before the pandemic started.

    • I suspect rape is frequently an impulsive act, having to disable a camera is both an extra hurdle and acts as a clear sign to remind them they almost certainly won't get away with. Criminals are often stupid and can use the reminder.

      That said, video surveillance tends to be unpopular.

      • by jabuzz ( 182671 )

        You could mandate a "Lyft" camera which does some checking to make sure it's working and without it working you can't get a "fare". That would mean you have to disable the camera after getting the "fare", which if there is an allegation of sexual assault, and the camera is disabled, should be enough for Lyft to turn over the details to the authorities without the need for a court order, because there is now suspicious activity to back up the allegation. Heck add in some remote download facilities and Lyft c

      • Considering the amount of rape that occurs with the victim under the influence of drugs like Rohypnol, I might disagree with your proposition that a camera would act as an effective deterrent even if they could just switch it off.

    • by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ) on Saturday January 02, 2021 @03:33PM (#60888274)

      driver-rapist would just disable the camera for a temporary period of time or perhaps right after the ride started.

      1. A video would reduce false accusations.

      2. Disabling the camera would be seen as incriminating by juries.

      My dashcam cost $19. It wasn't a big investment. If I was a Lyft driver, I would use a camera for my own protection.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
        • Absolutely, 10% of rape victims are male.

          • Absolutely, 10% of rape victims are male.

            So you're saying 90% of rape victims are women. Got it.

            • Don't you know, 90% of women equals 10% of men! And as James Damore and his followers point out, some people are genetically predisposed to certain behaviours that should be expected of them, so in reality only half of those 90% of cases are legitimate.
    • "I would think the best way to prevent this may be to let female riders hail female drivers. Also don't let give male riders the same privilege so they can't specifically hail a female driver to prey upon. Men make up the majority of people prosecuted for sexual assault so this should hit most cases. Yes, I know men rape men as well and sometimes you even have a woman raping someone but it's an outlier."

      Seems obvious right? Billion dollar idea right there on the table.

      Yet . . . a number of companies have tr

      • by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Saturday January 02, 2021 @05:33PM (#60888574)

        "I would think the best way to prevent this may be to let female riders hail female drivers. Also don't let give male riders the same privilege so they can't specifically hail a female driver to prey upon. Men make up the majority of people prosecuted for sexual assault so this should hit most cases. Yes, I know men rape men as well and sometimes you even have a woman raping someone but it's an outlier."

        Seems obvious right? Billion dollar idea right there on the table.

        Or possibly, and hear me out before you say anything, perhaps men shouldn't rape. I mean, what does that cost? Zero dollars?

        I realize in this day and age of making sure to find the most complicated, convoluted and obtuse way to do something, perhaps, just once, in this case, we could use the simplest, cheapest solution.

        • Or possibly, and hear me out before you say anything, perhaps men shouldn't rape. I mean, what does that cost? Zero dollars?

          You are right, but how do you make it happen?

          • by djinn6 ( 1868030 )

            Legalize prostitution. It's very easy, it protects women and it helps to balance the government's budget.

            Another option is VR. Fully immersive experiences will take a bit longer, but eventually nobody will bother raping real women because the virtual ones will be superior in almost every way. Whatever fetish you have, they can satisfy you, even types that would be impossible in real life, such as tentacle sex. You can even "rape" with no consequences, though you might need to redefine the word in the contex

    • by PPH ( 736903 )

      beyond doing a background check before hiring.

      That will fly directly in the face of the current philosophy of not holding people responsible for their past transgressions. Laws have been passed or are being considered to ban background checks for lending, employment, rental qualifications, insurance premium calculation, etc. So yo propose denying people employment as an Uber driver for a little thing like rape?

      I would think the best way to prevent this may be to let female riders hail female drivers.

      That all depends on what a rider/driver identifies as [funnyjunk.com].

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Here less serious crimes are considered "spent" and don't have to be declared after some time. They aren't supposed to be reported on background checks.

    • by mi ( 197448 )

      Just search rape by taxi driver. You'll get quite a few unique results. I'm not entirely sure what Lyft, Uber and the taxi companies can do about this beyond doing a background check before hiring.

      Of course, traditional taxis aren't any safer — and probably worse — than Uber/Lyft.

      But the point here is not to protect the female riders. It is to save the obsolete taxis — or, more specifically, the cushy government jobs in various "Taxi & Limousine Commissions" in city-governments and the

    • by djinn6 ( 1868030 )

      Lyft should definitely work with police though not sure what information Lyft has on each driver beyond perhaps a home address, bank account and phone number. Maybe a social security number. That's definitely helpful information and it's quite surprising this information wouldn't be handed over to the police investigating a rape.

      They are cooperating. According to the summary:

      The suits also allege that Lyft "does not cooperate with police when a driver commits an illegal sexual attack on its passengers," requiring that "extensive standards be met" before it will consider police requests for information, and only releasing information in response to a subpoena.

      That means Lyft does cooperate after they get a court order, which is exactly when they should. Handing over drivers' personal information nilly willy is a breach of privacy. Some people think that just by having a rape accusation they should be able to force everyone to do whatever they want. Those people do not belong in a free country.

    • by rtb61 ( 674572 )

      Men do not rape, psychopaths and sociopaths rape. Psychopaths born that way and sociopaths made that way, most often by psychopaths.

      IT IS NOT A MALE GENE FUCKING THING, it is a brain gene thing. Want to solve the problem, start by talking about psychopaths and sociopaths instead of a gender. It's like saying women want to change gender to men so they can rape.

      This is not a gender issue, this is a bad genes issue, the psychopath genes, it's a real thing and they do not leave one victim but a trail of victim

  • the cost of video and track driver doors? will need to paid by lift as they can't real ask the drives to pay for that + maybe an unlimited data plan with tethering

  • Lyft could, the suits allege, ensure that video is taken and saved of all rides...

    A femtosecond after Lyft starts doing that, customers are going to start suing over invasion of privacy.

    • by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Saturday January 02, 2021 @05:37PM (#60888578)

      Lyft could, the suits allege, ensure that video is taken and saved of all rides...

      A femtosecond after Lyft starts doing that, customers are going to start suing over invasion of privacy.

      Would you shut up. There is no privacy if you're in someone else's vehicle. Everyone can see you through those things called windows. You're in public view.

      And further, and as always, the company can set whatever policy it wants. When you walk into your bank, or any business, you're being recorded. Are you going to whine about invasion of privacy when you're on their property?

      • Would you shut up. There is no privacy if you're in someone else's vehicle.

        I will, but the lawyers won't. They will see this as a great new opportunity to expand.

  • by CrimsonAvenger ( 580665 ) on Saturday January 02, 2021 @04:55PM (#60888502)

    before it will consider police requests for information, and only releasing information in response to a subpoena...

    Yeah, it's terrible that they use the same legal standards as everyone else does.

    What's even more terrible is that people would be appalled if their employer(s) gave information to the police without a subpoena, but are now appalled that someone else is insisting on the subpoena....

    Or are these police somehow different than the ones that have been involved in protests and riots all across the country this past year?

    • Came here to say just this. So the company is asking police to get a warrant for details, just as the system intends, but the perpetually offended perpetually require low hanging fruit to complain about...

      Doesn't seem a huge burden to prepare a 1 paragraph submission to the court: "Passenger X alleges that unknown driver did collect from Y at date and time Z. Require identification of driver and details of trip."

  • Imaging if the police didn't have cameras. Certainly there's bad apples out there, and yes they're a minority and camera would deter them from even thinking harm towards other citizens. I've tried lyft for two days, and if i were to go back, I would definitely invest in a camera for my own protection, as well as the passenger's safety.

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