Three women who were sexually assaulted by fake Uber drivers have filed a lawsuit against the ride sharing service, accusing them of failing to warn riders about the issue.
According to the lawsuit, Uber makes it easy for sexual predators to obtain Uber labels to trick customers. The company provides a printable version of the Uber logo for drivers who want to print one one their own and put it on their car window.
The lawsuit additionally alleges that the company hasn’t properly warned customers about the risk of fake Uber drivers.
The lawsuit comes more than a week after Samantha, Josephson, a University of South Carolina student, was kidnapped and killed when she got into a car she thought was the Uber she ordered.
After Josephson’s death, there has been more attention to the safety features built into Uber’s app that passengers can use to check the name, pictures and license plates of vehicles before they get in.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit claim that these safety features aren’t good enough.
“Uber Defendants fail to take into consideration that the customer they market to are typically inebriated causing enhanced difficulty in using this ‘matching system,'” the suit reads. The company could do more to help inebriated passengers verify who their drivers are, the lawsuit alleges.
Uber said it hadn’t seen a copy of the lawsuit yet and couldn’t comment on it specifically. A spokesman for the company, however, did make a statement.
“We have been working with local law enforcement, including the LAPD, to educate the public about how to avoid fake rideshare drivers for several years. In 2017, we launched a national campaign to remind riders to make sure they get in the right car by checking the information, like the license plate and car make and model, shown in the app. These important reminders have been part of our safety tips, and our law enforcement team regularly discusses this issue with agencies across the country.
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