UBER UPDATE INTL
not resume until December in Pennsylvania with revised software and significant new restrictions and safeguards, A spokeswoman for Uber’s self-driving car effort, Sarah Abboud, said the company regretted the crash that killed Herzberg and noted it has “adopted critical programme improvements to further prioritise safety. We deeply value the thoroughness of the NTSB’s investigation into the crash and look forward to reviewing their rec- ommendations.” NTSB said Uber conducted simulation of sensor data from the Ari- zona crash with the revised software and told the agency the new software would have been able to detect the pedestrian 88 metres (289 feet) or 4.5 seconds before impact. The car’s system would have started to brake 4 seconds before impact. In the actual accident, the test vehicle did not correctly identify the bicycle as an imminent collision until 1.2 seconds before impact. It was too late for the Uber car to avoid the crash. “The system design did not include a consideration for pedestrians crossing the road without paying attention,” NTSB said. The Uber car also initiated a one-second delay of planned braking while the vehicle calculated an alternative path or the safety driver could take over. Uber has since discontinued that function as part of its software update. In March, prosecutors in Arizona said Uber was not criminally liable in the self-driving crash. Police have investigated whether the safe- ty driver who was behind the wheel and supposed to respond in the event of an emergency should face criminal charges. Police have said the crash was “entirely avoidable” and that the backup driver was watching “The Voice” at the time of the crash.
UBER’S #METOO MOMENT IN FRANCE
A wave of social media reports from women who faced sexual assault and harassment by Uber drivers has driven the ride-hailing company to hastily introduce new safety features in France. Politico reports that the posts started in mid-November, when two young women realised that the same Uber driver had harassed them two years apart - despite Uber’s promises that the driver would be banned from the platform. The women contacted Anna Toumazoff, who runs a feminist meme page on social media and shared their story with her 30,000 follow- ers at the time using the hashtag #UberCestOver (“Uber is over”). Within hours hundreds of women had responded with stories about their own scary encounters using the ride-hailing app. The uproar prompted France’s Secretary of Equality Marlène Schi- appa to summon Uber’s French directors to a meeting on December 12. “Secure transport is a sine qua non condition of women’s freedom to come and go autonomously,” Schiappa said in a statement. “I asked [Uber] to live up to their commitments to ensure the security and safety of all female users of Uber and fight against impunity for the authors of sexual assault,” she added. “Following reports of unacceptable sexual assaults, our users' trust has eroded. We are determined to win it back by taking measures that prevent and combat sexual violence and support victims,” said Steve Salom, Uber’s boss in France, following the meeting with Schiappa. Salom announced the company will implement real-time driver identification to combat “fake drivers” in France on Monday. The company plans to roll out the feature across the rest of Europe. Uber also said it would suspend accounts of drivers accused of sex- ual violence, providing funding for psychological and legal help for victims, and set up a system of information exchange with the
JANUARY 2020
police, as well as con- tacting police pro- actively. From 2020, Uber pledged to call back in less than three minutes any victim who signals an assault via the Uber application. Schiappa said she would summon all ride-hailing plat- forms together in the first quarter of 2020 for a feedback session. Until now, Toumazoff says, Uber has been skirting responsibility. She says the victims she has talked to have not been contacted properly by the company after they filed safety complaints, and that Uber has deleted the problematic rides after a complaint has been made. Toumazoff welcomes the new identification system, but does not believe the company is sincere in its offer to help victims. “I can’t imagine a victim going to Uber for that. Would an animal go to the hunter to ask for help?” she said. Uber has not released statistics on how many cases of sexual harassment were reported in France. However, Uber's first-ever safety report for the United States revealed that in 2017 and 2018 alone, Uber received 5,981 reports of sexual assault, of which 464 were rapes. There were 19 cases where physical assault led to the death of users or drivers. The measures in France echo the safety features Uber has promised it would roll out in the U.S. following its safety report. Uber said it wants to start naming and shaming the drivers who have been banned from the platform over security concerns, and will offer rid- ers a unique 4-digit PIN to verify they are in the right car. In 2020, U.S. drivers will start receiving sexual misconduct and assault edu- cation, and the company is opening up a survivor support hotline. The company has also said it would start audio recording rides for safety reasons. Safety has become a thorn that has started digging itself deeper into Uber’s side. #UberCestOver is the latest in a long litany of high- profile safety-related cases for the American ride-hailing company, from abusive drivers to lethal autonomous cars. In 2017, London’s Metropolitan Police accused Uber of failing to report sex attacks by drivers — ultimately leading the city’s regula- tor Transport for London deciding the company was not “fit and proper” to operate in London, one of its biggest markets. In Novem- ber, the ride-hailing company lost its London licence yet again over safety concerns. Losing London would be a major blow for the ride-hailing app, as would losing Paris. The French capital was Uber’s first European conquest in 2011, and soon became one of its toughest battle- grounds. Street violence erupted between drivers and taxi workers, followed by numerous court cases and a ban on its car-sharing ser- vice UberPop. Uber has recently managed to rebuild its relationship with the city, and France is about to pass a new mobility bill that would hand over significant powers to the platforms when it comes to employee classification — a model that the company wants the rest of Europe to follow. The company is playing a precarious policy game. Introduce too many safety features, and face privacy concerns or be forced to take responsibility of its drivers as an employer would. Stay too dis- tant and risk souring an already patchy relationship with regulators and the public. Whatever tack Uber decides to take, Toumazoff says it wants Uber to own up to its mistakes. “I want to hear real decisions about how Uber plans to change. I want to hear a real apology to the victims,” Toumazoff said.
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