Uber sure has been under lots of fire lately with several incidents regarding drivers assaulting passengers, and it looks like the company wants to buck up and make things safer for the public. Uber recently announced that they will improve background checks on drivers, using methods such as biometric scans and even lie detectors during driver screening.
“Our Safety Product Team is developing more ways to put technology to work to ensure the safety of riders and drivers in key areas. We are initiating research & development on biometrics and voice verification to build custom tools for enhanced driver screening.”
On top of that, the company also mentioned that they are working on an emergency system for passengers that will allow them to quickly call out for help should they be at risk. The feature will be built on top of an existing “ShareMyETA” feature on the Uber app. Together, this should make things a lot safer for passengers.
Unfortunately, no timeline was stated in the blog post – Uber only mentioned that these are some of the things they are working on as they look into 2015. Let’s hope Uber put these things to work fast because clearly, the current safety procedures isn’t enough to protect its passengers, especially following the tragic incident that happened in India.
