# Uber's New Panic Button Is Now Live In The US: Dial 911 Directly From The App



## Wonkytonk (Jan 28, 2018)

The Verge reports:
*Uber's new panic button is now live in the US*
*Dial 911 directly from the app*

https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/29/17402172/uber-911-panic-button-app-live-us
https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/29/17402172/uber-911-panic-button-app-live-us
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In April, Uber announced that it would be adding a direct way for riders to call 911 within its app in an effort to boost its flagging safety reputation. Today, the company is making that new feature live and fully operational across the US.

The emergency button is located in a new "safety center" menu that is easily accessible from the app's home screen, giving riders a quick way to contact first responders in the event that something goes wrong during their trip. The safety center also includes information about the driving screening process, insurance protections, and community guidelines (aka the list of horrible behaviors that will get you banned from Uber).

To dial 911, riders will need to swipe up on the safety center icon, and then tap "911 assistance." They will then be asked to confirm they mean to dial 911 before the call is put through to emergency dispatchers. This is meant to minimize accidental dials, explained Sachin Kansal, Uber's director of product management. The panic button was previously tested out by Uber in India. 
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## Patrick R Oboyle (Feb 20, 2018)

...cause pax are soo stupid they dont know how to dial 911 on there cellphone...

The articles mentions later in and i saw in a news report about it that it will give 911 operators the paxes gps location. And will allow you to optionally stay quite so you dont alert the driver that police are on there way. Or some stuff like that


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## Wonkytonk (Jan 28, 2018)

Patrick R Oboyle said:


> ...cause pax are soo stupid they dont know how to dial 911 on there cellphone...
> 
> The articles mentions later in and i saw in a news report about it that it will give 911 operators the paxes gps location. And will allow you to optionally stay quite so you dont alert the driver that police are on there way. Or some stuff like that


It looks a bit like they're giving them the address in the video, but unless they've come to a stop at a destination it's kind of useless giving a gps location that's not constantly updating if they're still on the move.

As we've discussed in the past though there's going to be a lot of driver deactivations over this and a lot of wasted police time as well since they're making it easier. There's psychologically less consequence then actually determining the need for and physically dialing the 911 I would think.

I'm hoping all that extra use of municipality resources like 911 is going to spur local municipalities into more tightly regulating both uber, and lyft.


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## BurgerTiime (Jun 22, 2015)




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## rex jones (Jun 6, 2017)

Can't wait to see this used for stuff like the driver doesn't want to stop through the drive thru or doesn't want to follow "my" directions.


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## Wonkytonk (Jan 28, 2018)

rex jones said:


> Can't wait to see this used for stuff like the driver doesn't want to stop through the drive thru or doesn't want to follow "my" directions.


It's funny in a sad way because you know it's gonna happen.

I saw an idiot dial 911 when a laundry cart hit his rear bumper going less than 2 miles an hour. No damage visible, but he was pissed so he dialed that number to have the police respond to his emergency.


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## Mista T (Aug 16, 2017)

It would be nice if they offered a driver 911 panic button, for when drivers need help with potentially dangerous pax.

Is that going too far? I mean... there's a good reason that 90%+ of late night drivers are men.


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## Uberfunitis (Oct 21, 2016)

Mista T said:


> It would be nice if they offered a driver 911 panic button, for when drivers need help with potentially dangerous pax.
> 
> Is that going too far? I mean... there's a good reason that 90%+ of late night drivers are men.


supposedly that is coming in a latter update.


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## Wonkytonk (Jan 28, 2018)

Mista T said:


> It would be nice if they offered a driver 911 panic button, for when drivers need help with potentially dangerous pax.
> 
> Is that going too far? I mean... there's a good reason that 90%+ of late night drivers are men.


Seems like they could have released both at the same time. I don't know really but I would think a lot of the code base for that functionality would be almost identical to the pax panic button.



Uberfunitis said:


> supposedly that is coming in a latter update.


I guess it's reasonable to release it for pax first, or maybe not I mean what's the incidence of drivers being hurt by pax vs pax being harmed by drivers. I suspect it's pretty one sided not that either should be happening.

Let's hope you're right.


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## Stevie The magic Unicorn (Apr 3, 2018)

The number of drivers that get victimized generally massively outnumbers the number of passengers that do.


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## Wonkytonk (Jan 28, 2018)

Stevie The magic Unicorn said:


> The number of drivers that get victimized generally massively outnumbers the number of passengers that do.


That is my assumption but I don't have numbers to back it up. I tend towards making conservative statements about an issue where I'm not in possession of all of the facts like this one.


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## rex jones (Jun 6, 2017)

Wonkytonk said:


> That is my assumption but I don't have numbers to back it up. I tend towards making conservative statements about an issue where I'm not in possession of all of the facts like this one.


How dare you sir, be rational and logical!


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

Wonkytonk said:


> To dial 911, riders will need to swipe up on the safety center icon, and then tap "911 assistance." They will then be asked to confirm they mean to dial 911 before the call is put through to emergency dispatchers.


Your friggin kidding me? I'm laying 4-1 odds that within the first year Uber gets sued because the panic 911 assistance was too difficult to use, especially for drunks.


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## Fed truck (Nov 9, 2017)

The same way an alarm company charges you 3-500 for the police showing up to your home after too many false alarms the pax will be charged this also just wait and see.


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## Rickshaw (Jun 30, 2017)

This is an affirmation of their own lack of confidence in their driver vetting process.

Uber trusts drivers enough to depend on them to build their empire, but not enough to trust driversd to drive their paxs safely.


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## homelesslawnmowers (May 25, 2018)

id say flood 911 everytime a driver gets paid less than $10 to report robbery, yes hello uber just stole $ frim me....but this is for riders who apparently cant figure out how to dial 911??????.

sure theyll give 911 the location but uber still hides it from drivers

cabs have partitions for a reason & its not to protect riders lmao

has to be the evilest company since gas chambers inc.


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## homelesslawnmowers (May 25, 2018)

Wonkytonk said:


> That is my assumption but I don't have numbers to back it up. I tend towards making conservative statements about an issue where I'm not in possession of all of the facts like this one.


a full time driver foing 20+ rides will have their vehicle assaulted kicked, door slammed on purpose, trash left on purpose, drink spilled on purpose, gum snot wiled, & least verbally assaulted once a shift, more at nights & definitely risk intimadation or violence 1000 times more than riders

how many assaults/rapes of riders on 15+ million rides per day

again cabs dont have partitions to protect riders, imagine if all drivers had cams, it would be daily

but uber will believe the rider yeah my rides "dirty" & i was "unprofessional" from 1 rider while the other 499 5 star & lots tipped


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## Wonkytonk (Jan 28, 2018)

homelesslawnmowers said:


> how many assaults/rapes of riders on 15+ million rides per day


I don't know, nor do I know the insidence of rider on driver crimes which is the point I was making above.


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## dirtylee (Sep 2, 2015)

HA HA HA HA

In Dallas, the cops will NOT show up for some bullshit.


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## Stevie The magic Unicorn (Apr 3, 2018)

Wonkytonk said:


> That is my assumption but I don't have numbers to back it up. I tend towards making conservative statements about an issue where I'm not in possession of all of the facts like this one.


Personal experience, and my statement was deliberately vague.

As it stands, i'm victimized enough to call the cops about once a month, but I don't call the cops over an unpaid $8.00.

*looking at my records*
I could have called the cops about 15 times last year, instead it was once. It was actually this crazy lady who was way super paranoid... long story short...

The cops ended up putting her on a 48 hour psych hold and i dropped the criminal charges for threat of violence.

Cause there was something seriously wrong with her... I put my vengeance aside.

The uber drivers get criminally victimized a lot more than you guys even realize, whenever they scam support to get a cancel fee or an entire fare clawed back from you that's fraud. It's the 21st century equivalent of running out on the cab fare. No less serious and no less damaging. It's still theft.

Most drivers deal with these issues so often that i'm going to say this..

Almost ALL 100% of drivers have been the victim at least once of something,

A very extreme tiny minority of passengers ever will be.


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## pomegranite112 (May 14, 2017)

As a driver if i’m threatened or feel threatened i would drive to the nearest police station


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## Trump Economics (Jul 29, 2015)

Wonkytonk said:


> The Verge reports:
> *Uber's new panic button is now live in the US*
> *Dial 911 directly from the app*
> 
> ...


Don't panic! You'll still earn less than minimum-wage and live in your car.


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## SatMan (Mar 20, 2017)

Dash Cam-Dash Cam-DashCam!!!


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## The Gift of Fish (Mar 17, 2017)

> Today, the company is making that new feature live and fully operational across the US.


As opposed to what, partially operational? As in it just dials 91 instead of 911.


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## Hand of God 137 (Apr 17, 2018)

Uber cares as long as it doens't cost


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## Homie G (Oct 19, 2017)

pomegranite112 said:


> As a driver if i'm threatened or feel threatened i would drive to the nearest police station


Also, the nearest police station should be displayed on the driver app and if you double tap it navigation should kick in to that location.

More improvements like this needed for driver safety.


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## June132017 (Jun 13, 2017)

The PAX can't even figure out how to place a pin on a map and you expect them to push buttons and swipe?


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## KenLV (Jun 23, 2017)

Everytime you see a post from Uber on Twitter, facebook, etc... you should post a link to an incident like this one from this week her in Vegas...

https://www.ktnv.com/news/uber-driv...t-gunpoint-in-north-las-vegas-ends-in-arizona

Setup a "spare" FB, Twitter account to protect your privacy though.


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## KMANDERSON (Jul 19, 2015)

Uberfunitis said:


> supposedly that is coming in a latter update.


I doubt it will happen


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## pomegranite112 (May 14, 2017)

I think we all need a 911 swipe button from all the rape ubers been doing to us with rate cuts


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

W


Wonkytonk said:


> The Verge reports:
> *Uber's new panic button is now live in the US*
> *Dial 911 directly from the app*
> 
> ...


WHAT ABOUT DRIVERS !?!?

WHAT DOES UBER DO FOR DRIVERS !



dirtylee said:


> HA HA HA HA
> 
> In Dallas, the cops will NOT show up for some bullshit.


Pax will hit 911 for not stopping at Burger King !


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

Wonkytonk said:


> It's funny in a sad way because you know it's gonna happen.
> 
> I saw an idiot dial 911 when a laundry cart hit his rear bumper going less than 2 miles an hour. No damage visible, but he was pissed so he dialed that number to have the police respond to his emergency.


My neighbor called 911 because of dogs barking. The cop chewed her out. The dogs weren't even outside when he arrived. This was not late at night, either.


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## Old BUF Guy (Feb 28, 2018)

You would have to be CRAZY to drive without a dashcam! I absolutely predict that at least one of my next 100 passengers will dial it without any justification whatsoever. Late night drunks are especially likely to do that.


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## Jo3030 (Jan 2, 2016)

They are fine throwing more stuff on everyone else but not on themselves
so sure, flood 911 w/ calls.
"We're not paying for it!"


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## KMANDERSON (Jul 19, 2015)

Trump Economics said:


> Don't panic! You'll still earn less than minimum-wage and live in your car.


Exactly why are you scared of death.


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## Michael1230nj (Jun 23, 2017)

I predict the most usage will occur when Pool customers start hitting the button on each other.


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## melusine3 (Jun 20, 2016)

Wonkytonk said:


> The Verge reports:
> *Uber's new panic button is now live in the US*
> *Dial 911 directly from the app*
> 
> ...


The fact that they aren't doing this for drivers as well speaks volumes.


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## just_me (Feb 20, 2017)

Thank you for the article *Wonkytonk,* I was unaware of how Uber executives (including Travis) mishandled that rape case in India. (Sad).

In this article ( https://www.marketwatch.com/story/uber-beset-by-safety-criticisms-introduces-panic-button-2018-05-30 ), it mentioned a movement with Pamela Anderson and a CNN investigation on Uber that found 103 Uber drivers being accused of sexual assault - as the reason(s) for Uber's panic button being implemented.



melusine3 said:


> The fact that they aren't doing this for drivers as well speaks volumes.


That it does. I would also add Uber implementing this panic button after millions and millions (billions?) of successful rides by Uber drivers in the face of 105 known cases (and I'm not trying to discount those cases in any way here) also speaks volumes about Uber's mismanagement of the company. The panic button is an over correction/reaction. Uber only had to tightened the hiring standards (which they are doing) and then go back and take a second look at the present and dormant accounts to address this issue. It's been my experience that more often than not, an over correction/reaction by management usually leads to another over correction/reaction by management somewhere down the road. If Uber management isn't careful, they could over correct themselves right out of business.


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## Mista T (Aug 16, 2017)

just_me said:


> Thank you for the article *Wonkytonk,* I was unaware of how Uber executives (including Travis) mishandled that rape case in India. (Sad).
> 
> In this article ( https://www.marketwatch.com/story/uber-beset-by-safety-criticisms-introduces-panic-button-2018-05-30 ), it mentioned a movement with Pamela Anderson and a CNN investigation on Uber that found 103 Uber drivers being accused of sexual assault - as the reason(s) for Uber's panic button being implemented.
> 
> That it does. I would also add Uber implementing this panic button after millions and millions (billions?) of successful rides by Uber drivers in the face of 105 known cases (and I'm not trying to discount those cases in any way here) also speaks volumes about Uber's mismanagement of the company. The panic button is an over correction/reaction. Uber only had to tightened the hiring standards (which they are doing) and then go back and take a second look at the present and dormant accounts to address this issue. It's been my experience that more often than not, an over correction/reaction by management usually leads to another over correction/reaction by management somewhere down the road. If Uber management isn't careful, they could over correct themselves right out of business.


I wish they would overcorrect the driver pay issue.


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## Uberyouber (Jan 16, 2017)

If you have to put a 9-1-1 panic button on your app to keep drivers from raping the passengers you got wayyyyyyy bigger problems...


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## Hand of God 137 (Apr 17, 2018)

I can't believe this is for the Fing riders.

Who are the drunk psychos in the car. Who are the people that don't have jobs to lose by acting crazy. Not the drivers. Drivers are sober and have their jobs to lose. 

AND

Uber should have at the least introduced it for BOTH drivers and riders. THIS shows exactly how UBER couldn't give two Fs about drivers.


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## Rex8976 (Nov 11, 2014)

According to this report, the police can see exactly where you are. Excellent.

911 call centers have fought the problem of cell phones and locations for years.

Yay! Uber solved it!

That's a pretty big nut that's been cracked. Could potentially save countless lives.

One question: Why not make this technology available to ALL phone manufacturers and consumers?

Uber solves a huge technological riddle and keeps it to itself? "We'll do better." Poppycock!

As big a fan as I am of Jeff Rossen and the Today Show, I'm calling BS on this one.

I think they've been bamboozled.


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## Trump Economics (Jul 29, 2015)

Wonkytonk said:


> The Verge reports:
> *Uber's new panic button is now live in the US*
> *Dial 911 directly from the app*
> 
> ...


https://uberpeople.net/threads/background-checks-are-for.263991/

*Solved!* Next sexual assault or murder, please.


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## uber>54 (Oct 6, 2017)

As a safe driver I am not sure if I like the idea. It sends a message to riders that they need a panic button because they are in danger with drivers. That will hurt business and is the comfort of some social publicity band aid.

As a driver that prides himself with keeping passengers safe, I ask if there are less publicized options like back ground checks.


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## iPHX (Jun 7, 2016)

The next button will be an "Insta-ban" button pax can push during/after a ride to instantly shaft their driver - Uber will reward the passenger $$$ for successful deactivation if the driver can't prove their innocence.


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## SatMan (Mar 20, 2017)

iPHX said:


> The next button will be an "Insta-ban" button pax can push during/after a ride to instantly shaft their driver - Uber will reward the passenger $$$ for successful deactivation if the driver can't prove their innocence.


Dash Cam, Dash Cam, Dash Cam.....


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

Patrick R Oboyle said:


> ...cause pax are soo stupid they dont know how to dial 911 on there cellphone...
> 
> The articles mentions later in and i saw in a news report about it that it will give 911 operators the paxes gps location. And will allow you to optionally stay quite so you dont alert the driver that police are on there way. Or some stuff like that


And they clearly don't know how to say - "Siri dial 911" or "Google dial 911".


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## TwoFiddyMile (Mar 13, 2015)

Ok everyone hit the panic button at once. GO!


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## Dice Man (May 21, 2018)

pomegranite112 said:


> As a driver if i'm threatened or feel threatened i would drive to the nearest police station


You don't have time to drive to a police station.


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## YouEvenLyftBruh (Feb 10, 2018)

I used the button to report the sociopath executives running Uber are using slave labor, and they hung up?


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

FALSE dreams and
Empty Promises

We know Uber Well.

We have seen Their Type.
Many times.


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