Rideshare programs are often criticized for their lax vetting processes.
Uber and Lyft have recently updated their driver background check criteria in response to a multitude of sexual assault cases filed against rideshare drivers.
Both companies run a basic background check on all driver candidates.
However, both Uber and Lyft background checks only look into criminal history for potential drivers running back seven years.
The software that these companies use to run candidate background checks is relatively basic, and many previous violent crimes go under their radar.
A recent investigation conducted by CNN uncovered thousands of felons driving for Uber.
For instance, some drivers with previous violent felony charges, such as assault and sexual misconduct, were found to be operating for the rideshare vendors without any warning to the passenger of their driver’s history of violent behavior.
This is either because the rideshare vendor chose not to disclose that information, or because the background check failed to expose this history.
The degree to which background checks are conducted varies by vendor and even by individual vendor services.
However, these background checks are generally conducted much more liberally than other chauffeuring services such as taxi drivers and private chauffeurs.
Uber, Lyft, and other vendors are not able to consistently monitor and check all of the vehicles that their drivers are using because almost all rideshare cars are privately owned by drivers.
There is some limited oversight that vendors have over car safety and efficiency, but these companies leave this responsibility up to the drivers, for the most part.
There are currently no specific vehicle safety requirements that rideshare cars have to meet in accordance with state or federal laws or regulations (barring general vehicle laws and regulations).
Instead, Uber, Lyft, and other rideshare services set their own vehicle standards on a state-to-state basis.
Vendors require their drivers to submit their vehicles to a safety inspection at least once.
Some vendors require drivers to submit their vehicles to routine safety inspections.
This is not the case for all vendors or all locations and is actually only limited to a small percentage of all rideshare vehicles.
In locations with services that do not require the driver to submit their vehicles to routine safety inspections, the drivers are given a checklist of requirements that their vehicles are expected to meet.
In these instances, the vendors do not conduct routine safety standards checks on the vehicle and must take the driver’s word that the vehicles meet the safety standards set by the vendor.
Even in locations with services that do conduct routine safety inspections, these inspections may only be limited to one or a few times total.
If an issue arises with the vehicle, say an airbag system in the vehicle is recalled, there is no way that the vendor can ensure that their driver has addressed the issue.
More expensive professional services, such as Uber Black, require drivers to submit their vehicles to routine inspections.
Another problem that arises is fraudulent drivers impersonating drivers in order to use the rideshare vehicle.
There have been a number of reports of individuals driving under the false identity of friends, roommates, family members, and other acquaintances who have been approved to be rideshare drivers.
Rideshare services only require that the driver “turn on” their availability on their phone app in order to start a shift.
These vendors have run into the issue of having drivers’ peers borrowing their drivers’ phones and taking driving shifts under the false identity of the drivers, even though they have not been approved by the vendor to drive.
There is almost no way to stop this issue unless a customer reports it, and it puts the passengers at a higher risk of being involved in an accident or victim of a crime.
