SAN JOSE (KCBS RADIO) – San Jose officials are considering a proposal that would require ride-hailing companies to report all sexual assaults that take place with their service to law enforcement.
This comes in an effort to increase public safety with better transparency from companies like Lyft and Uber.
Uber has published reports on sexual harassment and assaults that occur during service in the past. These reports suggest that the company receives hundreds of reports of sexual assault and harassment from its users each year in California alone.
"It's apparent that almost none are reported to our local police departments in this county," said San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo.
Liccardo has spearheaded a measure that would create a requirement for such reporting.
Particularly since this information is already shared between ride-hailing companies to identify predatory drivers, according to Liccardo.
"They're just not sharing it with law enforcement," he said. "They're not sharing it with the one entity that can actually do something about the very real threat posed by the assailant – that’s the police."
Both Lyft and Uber strongly oppose such a requirement, arguing that it should be up to victims to decide whether or not to reach out to law enforcement.
And according to Uber, some victim advocacy groups agree. Those the rideshare company has consulted with warn that victims could be retraumatized if law enforcement becomes involved without their consent.
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