Featured image: Women shouldn’t assume all ridesharing safety features are the same in all countries   | Photo by Miljan Zivkovic via Shutterstock 

How to stay safe using ridesharing services when you travel

by Carolyn Ray

For many women, when we think of a safe way to travel in a foreign country, ridesharing services like Uber, Lyft or Bolt come to mind. But are they really safe? An April 2025 New York Times article, “Uber’s Festering Sexual Assault Problem”, showed that from 2017 to 2022, a total of 400,181 Uber trips resulted in reports of sexual assault and sexual misconduct in the United States, a number alarmingly higher than the 12,552 cases previously disclosed by Uber.

The disparity in data has prompted Congress to investigate whether Uber’s reporting practices have understated the true scope of these assaults. On September 24, 2025, the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent a letter to Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, requesting a briefing to address discrepancies in the company’s reported sexual assault data.

“The truth is, using a rideshare service is not always safe in certain circumstances,” Breeden says. “Data captured across companies, law enforcement and advocacy organizations show that there is a heightened risk for sexual assault and misconduct when you are a woman, you’re in a vulnerable state, and you are alone, and at night when using rideshare. There is a heightened risk you will encounter misconduct or you’ll be assaulted potentially.”

Breeden believes it’s important for rideshare companies to be transparent about sexual assaults, as many remain unreported. “When companies aren’t fully transparent, consumers will lose trust in you,” she says. “But if you are transparent, you’ll actually increase consumer trust by saying, ‘We have identified some risk and trends connected to this product or this platform, and we want you to be aware of it. We also want you to be aware of the steps we’re taking to also address it and how we’re working in collaboration with police, communities and other businesses to try to reduce this type of harm that is happening’.”

According to Breeden, the majority of the people who are committing these type of things do not always have a criminal background. “They are often men with no criminal background, who typically, police will call ‘opportunistic crimes’, where they’re all of a sudden faced with an ethical dilemma and opportunity with somebody to take advantage of them or do something,” she says.

“We live in a culture where opportunity presents itself,” Breeden says. “Maybe it’s an intoxicated woman flirting with them in the back of a rideshare, they see that as consent to touch – to have sex. And they don’t believe it is assault, but it is.”

How to stay safe when using ridesharing services

1. Don’t use a rideshare in certain circumstances

If you are travelling late at night, in an entertainment area or in a vulnerable situation, Breeden says her advice would be to not use a rideshare service alone. “Do not get in a rideshare service alone and don’t put your friend in a rideshare,” she says. “Go together.”

2. Don’t assume all ridesharing services are the same in all countries

Rideshares are not required to have cameras, and although they may have voice recording, it may not exist in every country. Don’t always expect the same services in North America as in South America. She recommends you look up the particular country that you’re travelling to and check various information sites. Unfortunately, the information may not be easily found on the rideshare websites. Also, ask friends and colleagues whom you trust in the region you are travelling to.

3. Turn on your security features

With all of the security features in the app, when you sign up for it, even if you’ve had it for 10 years, if a new safety feature comes out, it doesn’t automatically turn on. When you sign up and download the app, a majority of all the safety features are off and need to be turned on in the settings on the app. If you want to share your trip with friends or family, you have to turn that on. If you want to turn on the location pin service, which makes sure you’re getting in the right car, you have to turn that on.

4. Ask for a female driver

If you want to use a female preferred feature, where it will identify potentially a female or nonbinary driver to pick you up, you have to set that preference. People will see that and say, “Oh, if I’m a female rider, I can get a female driver.” It doesn’t guarantee that you will get one, but you can set the preference where available. If there’s not a female driver available, it may pair you with highly rated male drivers.

5. Look for higher-rated drivers

Pay attention to ratings. If you get a driver and it’s a low-rated driver, just cancel it and get another one. If it says that you’ll have to pay a fee, sometimes, if you wait too long, like if you see the lower-rated driver, you should cancel it right away. If there are fees, you can challenge that and say, “For my safety, I wanted to choose a higher-rated driver,” and they may refund you the cancellation fee. If you get a driver and it’s a low-rated driver, they don’t have great ratings, and it’s the middle of the night and you’re alone, just cancel it. When you cancel and then you re-request the ride, you’re more than likely going to get a different driver. Ratings do not guarantee safety, but a highly rated driver is less likely to have a history of reported misconduct.

6. Use a public transit service that has cameras

If you are in a situation where you don’t have any choice, use a service that has cameras, like a local train, light rail or a place where there are people around you. In many cities, trains and light rail services have security and police often riding on them at night.

“If you’re in a vulnerable state and you’ve got groups of people around you, like a light rail service, it’s less likely that you’ll be harmed versus being alone with another person,” Breeden says.

7. Be wary of flirting

On a ride, if the drivers flirt with you or ask personal questions like about where you live or where you work, don’t engage. Some people forget that it is considered misconduct, and they shouldn’t be asking those questions. They shouldn’t be talking about your appearance. It’s not being friendly. It’s misconduct and a violation of rideshare community guidelines. Be sure and report those things in the app, because unreported misconduct can lead to repeated misconduct and potentially more serious harm.

8. Report any transgressions

In my expertise from law enforcement and working in safety, I know there’s a progression, Breeden says, when people become more brazen or confident. If drivers get reported for sexual misconduct, they can lose their ability to drive. So those reports do make a difference.

“I think reporting is important even when we know that sometimes it may not be handled the way we believe it should be handled,” she says. “It creates a history of this behaviour that can be used in a case if a person is assaulted and they decide to pursue criminal charges. Having this person held accountable, sometimes showing that pattern of behaviour, will help in the case as it goes forward.”

Why isn’t ridesharing regulated?

When we look at other industries that have a risk of harm connected to their product or the platform, like pharmaceuticals, alcohol or the automotive industry, they are highly regulated and required by law to inform the public of risks. Technology companies, such as ridesharing, are not regulated to inform consumers about the risks and trends of harm connected to sexual misconduct and assault.

More transparency doesn’t mean that women will stop using ridesharing, Breeden says, but it will help us be more informed about the potential safety risks.

“There are a lot of conversations happening around regulation in the technology and rideshare industries in Europe, Canada, Australia and some states in the U.S.,”

Breeden says. “Most of this is coming directly from government regulators, oversight committees, civil litigation and others. But they must hear from us if we want impactful regulations to occur. I encourage people to call and write their local and federal government representatives, calling for more regulations in this space.”

Breeden says this could include installing cameras, more transparency, and technology that will potentially prevent sexual assaults from happening.

“The thing I want women to hear is that it can be prevented. When you have this much data and understanding around it, you can reduce assaults dramatically. Technology and rideshare companies can prevent it. But it will also take regulations to force them to take the actions they need to take to do it.”

In the meantime, we as women have to take care of women by sharing information. It literally could save another person from being harmed.

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