A recent article published on CNET featuring Estey & Bomberger partner and attorney Mike Bomberger, recounts the story of a 23 year-old victim who suffered an attempted sexual assault at the hands of her Lyft driver. The woman, who cannot drive due to an injury sustained as a teenager, relies on rideshare companies for transportation. She was fortunate enough to fight off her attacker, but her assailant remains at large, and she lives in constant fear due to this fact.
The article touches on many points our law firm has been fighting against for years. The statistics are staggering, according to CNET, Lyft says it has more than 2 million drivers and 30 million riders throughout the US and Canada. Running operations in all 50 states, Lyft coordinates millions of rides every day.
As we are all to well aware at Estey & Bomberger, neither Lyft nor Uber have released data the number of assaults linked to their drivers. But going off of the amount of phone calls we receive a week, we know the numbers are distressingly large. These companies have also declined to say how many sexual assault lawsuits have been filed against them. Based on the number of victims our law firm represents, we know this is a major issue for these companies.
The lack of transparency offered by both Uber and Lyft only illustrates a fact that we know for a fact, Uber and Lyft are more concerned with their profit margins than they are their customers. Both companies have ineffective background checks, fail to report sexual assaults by their drivers to the police, and continue to offer bare minimums as far as rider protection is concerned.
The article details many issues with the way both Uber and Lyft approach sexual assaults by their drivers. Until these companies make real changes to protect the people who use their services, we will continue to advocate for the victims of their drivers.
If you believe that you or a loved one is a survivor of sexual assault by an Uber or Lyft driver contact us immediately to explore your legal options and get help today. We believe you, and we can help you get the justice you deserve.