Uber SA shares ridesharing safety tips

Uber South Africa continues to work towards improving the safety of its passengers and drivers.

The Strathavon-based service provider recently hosted a roundtable on the importance of safety and how it continues to improve its safety measures for all.

“Technology apps like Uber have improved safety by creating accountability and transparency where previously there was none,” read a statement by the e-hailing service.

Uber South Africa does, however, call on riders to always remain vigilant and take the necessary steps to ensure their safety.

The service provider shares the following safety checklist for passengers before hopping into a vehicle:

Verify your driver and vehicle before getting into the vehicle

• Make sure you wait for your drive in a safe well-lit area
• Identify the vehicle registration plate and cross-check with the app
• Check that both the vehicle make and colour match, an image of the vehicle colour and type is provided in the app
• Ask for your driver’s name and check the in-app photo, you also have the ability to click into and enlarge the driver photo in-app
• Opt-in to the ‘Verify Your Ride’ feature by navigating to the app settings and tapping ‘Verify Your Ride’. From there, you can choose to use the feature, which uses a pin code to help make sure you get into the right car, on every trip or only during evening trips (21:00 to 18:00).

Additional driver verification
Another feature available to riders is a Real-Time ID Check which prompts drivers periodically to take a selfie before accepting rides, comparing it to the driver’s profile photo.

This helps ensure the person driving matches the account registered on the app.

Share Your Trip With Your Trusted Contacts
It’s now even easier for riders to keep their loved ones in the loop.

Riders can select up to five friends and family members as trusted contacts and choose to be prompted to share trip details with them during every ride with a single tap.

Use your intuition
There is no need to share personal information with your driver. Uber has an anonymous contact system to ensure riders and drivers don’t need to share their personal information.

You can contact a driver at any time through the Uber app. If something doesn’t feel right, follow your intuition.

If you’re ever in an emergency, tap the shield icon on the map to access the in-app emergency button to call for assistance.