# The Dark Realities Women Face Driving for Uber and Lyft



## KevinH (Jul 13, 2014)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ealities-women-face-driving-for-uber-and-lyft
Note: Bloomberg requires a free membership to view 8 articles per month.









A Lyft driver and passenger in a Lyft ride in San Francisco. Photographer: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Lyft
Late one night in June, Jody Pagliocco was driving down a long, wooded road in southern Maine. She was working for Uber, and her passenger, a man, was in the front seat. That was unusual -but she hadn't felt comfortable telling him to get in the back when he opened the front door. She had picked him up from a bar in town, and he was drunk. The road was dark and there was nobody around. Pagliocco was getting uncomfortable.

"He made a joke about not being a serial killer," Pagliocco said. "Then he started talking about sexual stuff," and all she could think about was: "What if he tries to grab or touch me?"

Pagliocco drove to the front gates of his house and told the passenger to get out of the car. She was relieved he left, though the incident left her scared and shaken, causing her to stop driving for several days. Soon after she got back on the road, she drove another passenger who she said tried to grab her and kiss her. Pagliocco has only been driving for about half a year, yet of the thousand or so rides that she's driven for Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc., she says a few hundred of those have led to inappropriate advances or uncomfortable encounters.

Experiencing assault and harassment on the job is terrible. And on top of that, it affects her paycheck. After many of those instances, Pagliocco has taken a day, or several days off from driving. Though she prefers to drive late at night when she makes the most money taking people home from bars and events, Pagliocco says after these "unnerving" incidents, she will drive at earlier times of the day, when she makes far less money.

Driving is a full-time job for Pagliocco. She signed onto the services after a cross-country move and mostly drives for Uber. Her daughter had an accident that left her paralyzed, and Pagliocco wanted to be nearer to where she was receiving medical treatment, so she moved from Seattle to Maine. She was having trouble finding full-time work, and driving seemed like a job that allowed her to make her own schedule so she could also care for her daughter.









Lyft and Uber logos are seen on the windshield of a vehicle in New York.
Photographer: John Taggart/Bloomberg
Uber and Lyft have been hailed as economic saviors, offering flexible work for mothers juggling childcare responsibilities. While the quick pay and autonomous work have drawn people in, many women like Pagliocco who drive for Uber and Lyft say they frequently encounter harassment or assault.

In a private Facebook group for female drivers that's grown to more than 10,000 members since it was started in 2016, women frequently ask questions, give advice, and share driving stories. Many of the posts include experiences of sexual harassment. In one post, a woman wrote that a passenger grabbed the steering wheel and sexually assaulted her. She called 911 and the passenger was jailed. Another woman wrote that a male passenger slapped and hit her, hurting her back and shoulder. She said she called the police. Another shared a screen shot of a report she made within the Uber app, where she wrote that a rider forcibly kissed her.

Uber and Lyft allow drivers to report incidents in the app or through a 24/7 call line. They've also recently added new safety features to the platforms, including the ability to easily call 911 in the app. Uber recently added a feature that allows drivers to share trips with friends and family, a capability that is offered to riders on both platforms.

"Any situation reported to us is something that we take extremely seriously," said Stephanie Bryson, Uber's Head of Safety and Consumer Protection Policy. "Uber should be a place where both our riders and our drivers feel comfortable."

"The safety of the Lyft community is our top priority," Lyft wrote in a statement. "We do not tolerate harassment or violence on our platform, and such behavior can and does lead to a permanent ban from our service."

But Harry Campbell, who runs the Rideshare Guy, a popular blog among drivers, says the companies can do more. "Both Uber and Lyft have been extremely innovative when it comes to transforming the rideshare and mobility industry, but there have been areas like safety where they have been a lot more reactive," he said. "They should put their brainpower and innovation towards safety."

Zuwena, a 36-year-old in Portland, Ore., started the Facebook group for women drivers after a frightening experience driving for Lyft. She had picked up a drunk man from a bar. He sat in the front seat. As she was driving, he grabbed her arm several times. "My hands were shaking but I told him to get out and that I was grabbing my mace, and I told him to get on the side of the road," said Zuwena. "My whole night was pretty much done after that." She called the police and Lyft, who told her that they would deactivate the rider's account. Zuwena's last name, and those of a few other women drivers, are being withheld because of concerns over retaliation.

Emily, who is 23 and in school to become a paramedic, started driving for Uber and Lyft in Phoenix, Arizona a year ago, after her mother started working on the platforms. "I feel safer than most women you'd ask," Emily said. "I'm comfortable with drunk people. They'll get touchy and make weird comments." But she's also had experiences that disturbed her, like the drunk man who masturbated in her car.

Hannah Minter, a driver in Savannah, Georgia, said that the inappropriate encounters she's had with passengers are what's keeping her from driving full-time for Uber and Lyft. She is a 24-year-old single mother of two kids. She didn't finish college, and after her divorce, she began driving for ride-share platforms to supplement her income designing T-shirts and mugs that she sells on Etsy. Minter drives six to ten hours a week at night, when her kids are in bed. She said she frequently encounters passengers who make sexual comments or try to touch her inappropriately.

"Every single time, every day that I drive, every night that I drive, there is at least one questionable experience," Minter said.

Paul Oyer, a labor economist at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, co-authored a study published earlier this year that found men earn about 7 percent more than women per hour on average on the Uber platform. Oyer worked with Uber and other academics to study a sample of more than one million drivers in the U.S. between January 2015 and March 2017. Oyer found several factors putting women at a disadvantage. They included differences in driving speed, where and when they drove, and how long male and female drivers were staying on the platform.

Oyer found that on average, men were driving longer hours per week and were less likely to quit. That meant they were accumulating more experience, like learning when and where to drive and how to strategically cancel and accept trips, contributing to higher earnings on the platform.

Despite the flexibility advantage, "there's some other things going on in this platform that make it more attractive for men than for women," Oyer said. "You could imagine that they [women] don't feel it's safe."

Several women said that after rebuffing a passenger's advances, they worried about the rider retaliating by giving them a bad rating or erroneously reporting them for a serious infraction like drunk driving. That can lead to a suspension from driving for multiple days, as the platform conducts an investigation.

"For female drivers dealing with advances and people hitting on them, they should be able to say they want to stop the ride, but it's like they have to let them down gently," Campbell said. "Drivers don't receive training on how to handle these things."

Former Uber Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick was ousted last year after female employees made allegations that the company did not respond appropriately to sexual harassment. Since then, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has tried to overhaul the culture and make safety a greater priority of the company, said Bryson, the company's head of safety.

"We've really taken the need to improve to heart," she said. Uber is working on a transparency report that will show data on reports of sexual assault. The company also eliminated forced arbitration agreements for employees, riders and drivers who make sexual assault or harassment claims against the company. That means instead of resolving any legal claims in an arbitration hearing, people can take those claims to court.

When a driver files a complaint about a passenger because of a safety issue on Uber, it's flagged to a special team with training on dealing with high-sensitivity incidents, according to Bryson. Depending on the severity, the company will open an investigation to speak with the rider and driver before making a decision on next steps.

Lyft said On Lyft's app, if a driver or rider rates someone 3 stars or below, they will never be matched with them again, according to a statement from the company. Lyft also said that that it's announcing 15 new features by the end of this year, many of which focus on driver safety.

Pagliocco's still driving, but looking for other work. "I loved the flexibility and everything, but the money just isn't consistent enough," in addition to dealing with the "sexual harassment stuff," she said. "I mean, I would much rather have a full-time job."


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## EmOinDallas (Oct 14, 2018)

Well, hmmm....I haven't felt frightened at any point, but after reading this...I'm going to make sure no, single male gets in my front seat. That has always felt uncomfortable to me anyway. Only have 300 rides under my belt though. I did have one guy get in my front seat. He knew fewer English words than I know Spanish one's and that's not many. He was unable to communicate, but did do enough sign language to try and get my phone number and when I said no...he motioned to my finger and indicated I wasn't married. I clearly let him know that wasn't cool. Thankfully, it was a short ride. I didn't feel threatened...but rather that he was just a dumb (married) guy thinking his technique was 1) okay, and b) gonna work. 

I mostly drive Uber Select/Lyft Lux...not sure that makes much difference though...a predator is a predator, right? I think the big thing is not working the drunk hours if that can be helped. Seems that would mitigate a lot of the problems with getting hit on or harassed. 

I do carry mace gel AND a taser that doubles as a flashlight. Both are very cheap insurance. Pretty sure that would nip any untoward advances in the bud. 

The 911 thing is great and all, but not gonna do much in the moment, and who can get to that in the app if something happens quickly/unexpectedly? The taser/mace is always handy and easy to have at the ready at the first hint of creepiness. Women have good intuition and my feeling is if something or someone doesn't feel right...then take measures to distance yourself from the problem ASAP. Don't let a "drunk off his a**" pax get in your car in the first place. Many women are often too nice and worry about hurting feelings or whatever, so will act in a way to avoid confrontation. Doing so and not acting on the gut feeling, can lead to uncomfortable or dangerous situations. Not blaming women...I just think there are some things here and there we can to do avoid becoming a target. 

My feeling is...Uber and Lyft are doing the PC thing by talking about how safety is their concern and how they want to respond better to sexual harassment. I think their main focus is looking good and keeping legal problems at bay. What could they possibly do to make rides safer for drivers? Corporate is so far removed from us drivers, that it would take a National news story like"Female Uber Driver gets raped by passenger" to get them to notice/act, and by that time, what's done is done. Best I can tell... complaints from drivers often end up in getting the driver deactivated until the investigation is complete. Handling complaints is left up to "customer service" employees who have little or no ability to go off script and who have serious communication issues with anyone speaking the English language. Ubers CS (Rohit) is abysmal at best...Lyft's somewhat better. I do think U/L could start there....improve the quality of customer service reps and have a special team, who is more experienced and senior, handle serious claims. Having someone actually listen to drivers would be nice. As it is now...most drivers I know feel corporate automatically sides with the pax. 

As far as training...we all know U/L don't train drivers, but they do seem to love sending emails. Perhaps they can start blasting drivers with info on how to handle sexual harassment, extremely drunk pax or physical aggression. There are ways to diffuse situations and having some tools could possibly help.


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## bettercallpaul (Dec 18, 2018)

if they care so much about safety why dont riders have to scan i.d. after 30 days or 1st non 5 star to verify their account? Or a prompt you can use this service 5 more times before you have to verify.

Then they can keep a database so duplicate accounts arent so easy to set up.

They need to for scooters why not humans? answer they value $400 scooters more than human drivers lives.

Why else would the app take more than the human providing the vehicle, labor, time, fuel, & risk? Plus they know theyd lose half their riders if they needed to verify by i.d. & thats not happening with an ipo in sight...

Most riders by now are on 3rd or more anonymous accounts. Any rapist, murderer, felon, robber, drug dealer can get a burner account with a prepaid faster than a pizza

Cabs have partitions for a reason its not to protect riders.

The serial killer thing was funny just watched the house that jack built that was the 1st incident

this is nothing new though

first season of taxi think it was stories from cab 804 or something

elaines telling her story & gets into argument with the guy over long hauling or something we go thru regularly & refusing to get out in a low voice she rolls window down & says raaaape, gets louder raaaaaape, think he was out the car by third raaaaaape


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## Z129 (May 30, 2018)

I wouldn't want any female family member of mine to drive rideshare. You ladies that do it have my respect.

The men that harass and assault these female drivers are despicable gutter slime.


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## goneubering (Aug 17, 2017)

Z129 said:


> I wouldn't want any female family member of mine to drive rideshare. You ladies that do it have my respect.
> 
> The men that harass and assault these female drivers are despicable gutter slime.


I totally agree. I would take it a step further and say most women should avoid doing rideshare at night for their own safety.


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## uberdriverfornow (Jan 10, 2016)

I would have dash cams if I was a woman driving for rideshare.


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

In 10 or so years as a cabbie/uber driver I've had about a dozen really graphic incidents of sexual harassment from men.

Some very graphic things alone the lines of what's in this story.

I also have a lot of first hand experience in cracking skulls before i started driving a cab, and i still had plenty of times i didn't feel safe at all.

If i had a female friend ask if being a cabbie or uber driver was a good idea i would say that it's not safe,

I've said it.

*And i'm a guy...
*

I imagine for the average woman that number would be.... massively higher.


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## MHR (Jul 23, 2017)

I’m not allowed (actually an agreement my husband and I came to) to drive at night.

There’s one area in the big city, that if I have a drop off out there, I will turn my app off and hightail it out. It’s an area that can actually keep you busy and the pax I’ve driven out there are good people but when you pick up someone that tells you they sleep with a machete in their bed ‘cause the neighbor is wanted for murder then I have to reassess if I truly need that $2.62 minimum fare to make my day.


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## possibledriver (Dec 16, 2014)

KevinH said:


> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ealities-women-face-driving-for-uber-and-lyft
> Note: Bloomberg requires a free membership to view 8 articles per month.
> 
> 
> ...


I'm commenting on the Maine and Georgia incidents. Maine is a constitutional carry state. If you're legal to own a handgun, you're legal to carry it. Georgia is a castle doctrine state as well as a stand your ground state. When you're operating your vehicle it's considered to be as much your domicile as your living room is. You have carte blanche to carry in your car and home regardless of having a permit or not.


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## IthurstwhenIP (Jan 12, 2018)

It is very honorable for the guys to chime in on this....but statistics are that men are more likely to be assaulted by a large margin. Is what it is...we protect the women and men need to be strong, but guys don’t fall for any sense of security as you are far more likely to be a victim than a frau


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## uber-xxx (Oct 25, 2017)

IthurstwhenIP said:


> It is very honorable for the guys to chime in on this....but statistics are that men are more likely to be assaulted by a large margin. Is what it is...we protect the women and men need to be strong, but guys don't fall for any sense of security as you are far more likely to be a victim than a frau


Men are more likely to be assaulted because most drivers are male....


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## IthurstwhenIP (Jan 12, 2018)

uber-xxx said:


> Men are more likely to be assaulted because most drivers are male....


Not even English

Likely and often have entirely different meanings. Likely is a probability not a frequency


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## EmOinDallas (Oct 14, 2018)

possibledriver said:


> I'm commenting on the Maine and Georgia incidents. Maine is a constitutional carry state. If you're legal to own a handgun, you're legal to carry it. Georgia is a castle doctrine state as well as a stand your ground state. When you're operating your vehicle it's considered to be as much your domicile as your living room is. You have carte blanche to carry in your car and home regardless of having a permit or not.


Texas is castle doctrine state and legal carry as well. I have my CHL...go to the range now and again and have several handguns yet I don't carry a gun unless I'm
traveling. More peace of mind. I don't intend to get into a gun debate as nobody will change their minds, but I wouldn't think of carrying while doing rideshare. If I was that worried I'd find another gig. Cant imagine a situation where the best decision would be to pull a gun out. If you do that you better be prepared to use it.

Again...while bad things can happen anywhere at anytime...the chances of that can be highly mitigated by where and when you drive and by screening out sketchy pax before they get in your car.


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

IthurstwhenIP said:


> It is very honorable for the guys to chime in on this....but statistics are that men are more likely to be assaulted by a large margin. Is what it is...we protect the women and men need to be strong, but guys don't fall for any sense of security as you are far more likely to be a victim than a frau


The female drivers stand a much much higher chance of being sexually assaulted.

If you ask 10 women if they would rather be raped and possibly murdered or just robbed and possibly murdered...

Yeah I don't even have to ask 10 women now do I?



EmOinDallas said:


> Texas is castle doctrine state and legal carry as well. I have my CHL...go to the range now and again and have several handguns yet I don't carry a gun unless I'm
> traveling. More peace of mind. I don't intend to get into a gun debate as nobody will change their minds, but I wouldn't think of carrying while doing rideshare. If I was that worried I'd find another gig. Cant imagine a situation where the best decision would be to pull a gun out. If you do that you better be prepared to use it.
> 
> Again...while bad things can happen anywhere at anytime...the chances of that can be highly mitigated by where and when you drive and by screening out sketchy pax before they get in your car.


Screening isn't perfect...

Of the times I have called 911...

One of them was the ideal demographics from an ideal area and not really that drunk. Seemed like a pretty nice guy.

However alchohol kept absorbing into his blood stream and by the time we got to his house he was trying to choke me out for charging him the meter rate.

I pull up in front of his house and the meter is at $30 for a 10 mile 20 minute ride out to the middle of nowhere. He was literally in s good mood until I tell him the price for his ride..

I tell him the cost and his arm comes around my neck and he starts to choke me and my elbow goes into his face hard enough to break his nose.

Then I get out of the car... and he can't walk a straight line to get to me.

Obviously after breaking his nose... just gonna piss him off.

He went from being a 5/10 drunk and an ok person to a 8/10 angry drunk in the course of the half hour cab ride.

Thank god he was too drunk to successfully assault me.

If he was a little less drunk he could have seriously hurt me.

Instead he chased me around up and down the street a while until he fell over so many times he couldn't get up anymore and the cops showed up and he got cuffed and charged.

Could I have driven off?

I probobly would have had to run him over for that... that's my honest feeling on that to. However since I could move substantially faster in a far straighter line without tripping the safest thing I could do was keep a good 15 feet distance..

Situations can change in a blink of an eye. Especially when people are on drugs and alchohol, honestly alchohol is right up there with cocaine, meth and crack for making someone insane.

I picked that guy up from a bar in a decent suburb... to an even farther away suburb.. and he seemed like a pretty good guy, yet I had to elbow him in the face when he tried to choke me in front of his house.

You get an arm around my neck and he's damn lucky I didn't just shoot him.

Could I have deescalated if?

After his arm came around my neck it was him or me...

The final price of someone's ride is all that it took to set someone off.


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## James Robbins (Dec 20, 2018)

This is going bad day by day.


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## peteyvavs (Nov 18, 2015)

The world has been and always will be a dangerous place for a woman. There are men that are just plain ignorant and will always try to take advantage of a woman. If any woman choses to drive a taxi or rideshare they need to evaluate the risk and prepare themselves for any unforeseen events.
At the very least a woman should carry a taser, mace and a very sharp knife or gun and learn how to use them, it’s better to be tried by 12 then carried by 6.


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

peteyvavs said:


> The world has been and always will be a dangerous place for a woman. There are men that are just plain ignorant and will always try to take advantage of a woman. If any woman choses to drive a taxi or rideshare they need to evaluate the risk and prepare themselves for any unforeseen events.
> At the very least a woman should carry a taser, mace and a very sharp knife or gun and learn how to use them, it's better to be tried by 12 then carried by 6.


Men to...

I mean heck i've had half a dozen bad situations and not one of them was an armed robbery, not that you can't get straight up robbed doing uber.


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## MikeNY (May 6, 2016)

Its not exclusive to one gender over another. I've been hit on and touched plenty in my life without consent.
Before you respond oh I'm sure you wouldn't turn down a women.
That's just bull, both men and women need to learn safety first.
(1) Dual Dash Cam
(2) arrive at pick up observe PAX is drunk decide whether a cancelation is warranted.
(3) if you did pick up a PAX and he or she makes a move on you or threatens you. Stop the car call 911 and contact U/L to report.
(4) Arm yourself with Mace,Taser, Collapsible Baton.


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## mature423 (Dec 5, 2018)

Sorry but this is the age of equality. Doesn't matter if you're male or female.
If you can't handle yourself in these situations, find a desk job (which you're more likely to get than males).

They should let drivers use Crown Vics with cages that divide the front and back seats like taxi's for our protection.


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## 7Miles (Dec 17, 2014)

mature423 said:


> Sorry but this is the age of equality. Doesn't matter if you're male or female.
> If you can't handle yourself in these situations, find a desk job (which you're more likely to get than males).
> 
> They should let drivers use Crown Vics with cages that divide the front and back seats like taxi's for our protection.


Only in the movies you can see those taxis with dividing cages . Unfortunately not in real life. In real life they are all Priuses to safe on gas


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

KevinH said:


> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ealities-women-face-driving-for-uber-and-lyft
> Note: Bloomberg requires a free membership to view 8 articles per month.
> 
> 
> ...


" WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN" !?

The " Shadow" Knows . . .


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## djfx (Jan 1, 2016)

FYI this doesn’t just happen to women, I understand where you are coming from and I’m sure it happens more to women. But I’ve been hit on, shown flat out sexual organs from phones, Had a guy and girl try to kiss me, Had a guy offer a bj, etc. Drunk people are Drunk, I understand those consequences when driving, especially at night, but as long as they don’t get violent, I never really get that upset at them because we’ve all done stupid shit when we’re drunk. Again tho, I never condone violence.


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## Classified (Feb 8, 2018)

I honestly think it’s unsafe for both genders, male and female, you need to know how to handle yourself,

I’ve been doing this for years, I’ve lost count how many times I’ve been touched by men and woman In My car, and it’s normal behaviour, which is the sad part, I feel grossed out every time it happens, but it’s part of the job,

I don’t know which is safer, make passengers sit in back, where you can’t see what they are doing, ie jacking off, or they could strangle you while driving, or reach around your seat, and touch you, had that happen, glad I’m a male, slam brakes, 

Or have them sit next to you, where they touch your leg, arm, shoulder,


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## getawaycar (Jul 10, 2017)

Before there was rideshare, there were taxis. But I have never seen a female taxi driver in my life.

So why all the sudden there seems to be so many women doing rideshare as drivers?


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## Invisible (Jun 15, 2018)

I didn’t want to start a new thread because this has good information for women drivers, like myself. 

Do you women drivers feel safer doing Lyft over Uber, or is it the same? 

Uber clearly has a huge issue with woman. Uber to me seems worse because they have less women in upper management positions, compared to Lyft. They lost a lawsuit against a former woman exec who won a sexual harassment case. They have had many more pax assaulted (one was on video), and they seem to have more woman drivers assaulted.

I know Uber is much larger. But many women I know (friends & family) have said they only take Uber when they’re with someone, otherwise they feel safer in taxis.

I’ve had women pax for U/L tell me they were so glad to see a woman because they don’t feel safe. Some Lyft women pax have told me they don’t feel safe with Uber. 

I’ve had pax tell me I shouldn’t be driving, especially at night, and that’s from men & woman. I normally don’t do nights once it’s after 8, but a few times I went a little later.

Does Lyft treat women better? I’ve only done 250 rides between U/L. But now I don’t feel safe w/ Uber. I closed my Uber R/S account today.


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

Invisible said:


> I know Uber is much larger. But many women I know (friends & family) have said they only take Uber when they're with someone, otherwise they feel safer in taxis.


I hear this a lot, as a taxi driver.


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## Anonymhysa (Jan 15, 2019)

I've personally never had a problem with Uber pax, but then again I don't drive much past 10pm. I also have the trip tracker on, it makes my husband feel better. I do get questions all the time from both male and femalesee about if I've had any problems getting harassed. I laugh and say I'm well-protected, point to the glove box, and leave it at that.


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## Invisible (Jun 15, 2018)

Thanks for answering my question. I don’t want to return to this subject anymore. 

R/S not worth my safety!


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## goneubering (Aug 17, 2017)

getawaycar said:


> So why all the sudden there seems to be so many women doing rideshare as drivers?


They see the clever ads Uber runs and think it's an easy gig.


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

Anonymhysa said:


> I've personally never had a problem with Uber pax, but then again I don't drive much past 10pm. I also have the trip tracker on, it makes my husband feel better. I do get questions all the time from both male and femalesee about if I've had any problems getting harassed. I laugh and say I'm well-protected, point to the glove box, and leave it at that.


I hope you don't have anything in the glove box. How the heck is that useful?


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## Declineathon (Feb 12, 2019)

EmOinDallas said:


> Well, hmmm....I haven't felt frightened at any point, but after reading this...I'm going to make sure no, single male gets in my front seat. That has always felt uncomfortable to me anyway. Only have 300 rides under my belt though. I did have one guy get in my front seat. He knew fewer English words than I know Spanish one's and that's not many. He was unable to communicate, but did do enough sign language to try and get my phone number and when I said no...he motioned to my finger and indicated I wasn't married. I clearly let him know that wasn't cool. Thankfully, it was a short ride. I didn't feel threatened...but rather that he was just a dumb (married) guy thinking his technique was 1) okay, and b) gonna work.
> 
> I mostly drive Uber Select/Lyft Lux...not sure that makes much difference though...a predator is a predator, right? I think the big thing is not working the drunk hours if that can be helped. Seems that would mitigate a lot of the problems with getting hit on or harassed.
> 
> ...


Uber TOS says passengers can sit upfront. It doesnt discriminate on gender, of course.


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## Clarity (Sep 20, 2018)

I’m female and I only drive at night on weekends until about sunrise. I choose this way because I prefer to drive when there are as few cars on the road as possible and I actually see better at night as long as it isn’t raining. I am well aware it’s risky.

I finally had a dashcam installed recently and I have “protection” that hopefully I’ll never have to use. I also made it a habit to lock the doors. I always keep a large item in the passenger seat so when people open the door to sit there they quickly realize they can’t, apologize, then sit in the back. If they don’t get the message I just kindly ask them to sit in the back. I only let someone sit in the front if the backseats are filled.

If you can’t get a dashcam yet just put up dashcam stickers and mention in your profile that you have surveillance. They’re very cheap on amazon. However it should be a priority to have a dashcam.

Honestly most of the pax don’t do anything that terrible even before I had the dashcam. I’ve had a few uncomfortable or questionable occurrences but nothing major enough to report to the police but I did report to Lyft or Uber immediately.

Ridesharing is not for everyone.


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## 1.5xorbust (Nov 22, 2017)

Clarity said:


> I'm female and I only drive at night on weekends until about sunrise. I choose this way because I prefer to drive when there are as few cars on the road as possible and I actually see better at night as long as it isn't raining. I am well aware it's risky.
> 
> I finally had a dashcam installed recently and I have "protection" that hopefully I'll never have to use. I also made it a habit to lock the doors. I always keep a large item in the passenger seat so when people open the door to sit there they quickly realize they can't, apologize, then sit in the back. If they don't get the message I just kindly ask them to sit in the back. I only let someone sit in the front if the backseats are filled.
> 
> ...


You're the first person I've heard of who sees better at night.


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## Clarity (Sep 20, 2018)

1.5xorbust said:


> You're the first person I've heard of who sees better at night.


Me too


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## Bork_Bork_Bork (May 20, 2019)

If you’re that afraid.....the answer seems simple. Don’t do it. You’re out there working the streets for money....there is an inherent danger in ALL the professions that do so....

It’s a choice....don’t make it, then whine about it....


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