103 Uber drivers accused of sexual assault or abuse in US – CNN

A new CNN investigation has revealed that 103 Uber drivers in the U.S. have been accused of sexually assaulting or abusing their passengers in the past four years. The drivers were arrested, are wanted by police, or have been named in civil suits related to the incidents. According to the report, at least 31 drivers have been convicted for crimes ranging from forcible touching and false imprisonment to rape, and dozens of criminal and civil cases are pending. Though there is no publicly available data for the number of sexual assaults by Uber drivers or for drivers of other rideshare companies, CNN’s analysis comes from an in-depth review of police reports, federal court records and county court databases for 20 major U.S. cities. Uber, which launched in 2010 in San Francisco as “everyone’s private driver,” is the most valuable privately-held tech startup in the world. It is valued at $70 billion and operates in 630 cities worldwide providing 15 million rides a day. Of the 103 Uber drivers accused of sexual assault or abuse, for 18 of them, criminal cases did not move forward either because charges were dropped, cases were dismissed, or drivers were found not guilty.  The district attorneys and police officers who spoke to CNN said cases don’t move forward for several reasons, such as lacking a probable cause or witness cooperation.   In addition to finding the 103 drivers accused of crimes or named in a civil lawsuit, CNN contacted more than 20 police departments to obtain data on complaints that involved Uber or Lyft drivers and sexual assault. Four police departments Austin, Boston, Denver and Los Angeles tracked crimes involving rideshare drivers and shared their data on sexual assault complaints.The post 103 Uber drivers accused of sexual assault or abuse in US – CNN appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.