Among the data which was released in the official Community Safety Report from Lyft — which is a ridesharing company — 1,807 sexual assaults were reported in the year 2019, which represents an increase from 1,096 sexual assaults in 2017 and 1,255 sexual assaults in 2018 and totals 4,158 sexual assaults reported in all three years…
1,807 Sexual Assaults Reported With Lyft Rides in 2019 — Plus…
…but the number of reports of sexual assaults accounted for only 0.00014 percent of completed trips in the United States in 2019
Five of the most serious categories of sexual assault are included in the Community Safety Report:
- Non-Consensual Sexual Penetration
- Attempted Non-Consensual Sexual Penetration
- Non-Consensual Kissing of a Sexual Body Part
- Non-Consensual Touching of a Sexual Body Part
- Non-Consensual Kissing of a Non-Sexual Body Part
Of those five categories, non-consensual touching of a sexual body part was reported significantly more frequently than the other four categories in the years 2017, 2018, and 2019, according to the report — but its frequency by number was approximately one in 800,000 trips in the United States.
If you are concerned about being fatally assaulted physically while riding as a passenger in a vehicle for Lyft, your chances of that happening to you are approximately one in 175,000,000 in the United States, as a total of ten physical assaults which resulted in a fatality were reported in all three years of 2017, 2018, and 2019 combined.
You have a better chance at being involved in a motor vehicle fatality while riding as a passenger in a vehicle for Lyft, as 105 of them have been reported in all three years of 2017, 2018, and 2019 combined, which is a total of 0.000018 percent of completed trips in the United States. That rate per 100 million miles still places Lyft below the national rate overall in the United States.
Final Boarding Call
Although the Community Safety Report from Lyft does contain some “forward-looking statements”, seeing a company reveal negative aspects of its operations is refreshing in the current business environment — even though those negative aspects are a minuscule percentage of its operations. That is better than the typical “you asked for these enhancements” type of marketing that most companies typically engage to both their customers and prospective customers.
I do wonder if Uber has released similar data pertaining to its operations. If that data is found, I intend to present it in a future article.
I have never used Lyft; but you can read about my first experience using Uber as a passenger and my second experience with Uber as a passenger. Back in February of 2016, one Uber driver was accused of going on a murder spree while working his shift. The question of whether drivers of both Lyft and Uber should be fingerprinted was asked back on Wednesday, March 30, 2016.
Despite those aforementioned negative aspects, Lyft affirms that does appear to be a safe alternative to other modes of ground transportation.
Photograph ©2018 by Brian Cohen.
