Lyft and Uber join forces to create a registry of abusive drivers

More than a year after Uber released its first safety report, the ride-hailing company and its competitor Lyft have created the Industry Sharing Safety Program. It might be a bland name, but it’s a positive step for passenger safety, especially in the effort to prevent sexual violence.

Announced on Thursday, the program involves a shared list of deactivated drivers booted off the platforms after complaints of unsafe behavior including sexual and physical assault. The program is a joint effort to keep passengers protected after known safety incidents. The program hopes to keep, say, a deactivated Uber driver involved in a sexual assault case from later joining Lyft.

The registry will include any deactivations related to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s categories of sexual misconduct, assault, harassment, and physical assault leading to fatalities.

The center’s full report came out to help Uber better understand incidents of sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, and sexual assault reported by its customers and drivers. There were 21 categories of reports developed for Uber to make safety reporting clearer. 

Lyft has its own safety training program for drivers which must be completed before they can pick up passengers. That program includes sexual misconduct training.

Uber and Lyft have invited other companies in the ride-share and transportation industry to join the program and start sharing details of drivers that could put passengers in danger. 

The safety program comes as ride-share drivers in Chicago have been targeted in a recent spate of violent carjackings.