Uber is launching a 911 pilot in Nashville and in five other U.S. markets that allows a passenger's location and trip details to be automatically sent to a 911 dispatcher.
The company is partnering with emergency response company RapidSOS for the 911 integration pilot, initially launched in Denver. The 911 pilot will begin June 4 in Nashville, Chattanooga and the Tri-Cities area that includes Johnson City, Blountville and Kingsport, along with Naples, Fla., and Charleston, S.C.
The pilot comes as Uber seeks to enhance safety after several assault incidents have occurred involving drivers. Nationally, more than 100 drivers were accused of assaulting or abusing passengers in the past four years, CNN reported in April.
Uber safety concerns in Tennessee
In Murfreesboro, an Uber driver accused of raping a passenger in 2015 after a Halloween party was convicted last year of attempted aggravated sexual battery and sentenced to six years in state prison. There have also been local incidents in which Nashville-area passengers have been accused of inappropriately touching drivers or charged with assaulting drivers.
"Safety of our users, both riders and drivers is the highest priority for the company," Sachin Kansal, Uber's head of safety products, said. "As part of that, we making several changed to our application."
In April, Uber announced it was strengthening its safety features, adding a 911 emergency button within the Uber app that shows the rider their location as an address and on a map so they can share it with a 911 operator.
"In a lot of cases, users actually may not know exactly where they are or what address they are at," Kansal said. "Being able to find users is actually one of the biggest issues in the 911 system. That is a situation when every second counts."
How will Uber 911 integration work?
The 911 integration pilot in Nashville will allow passenger locations to be automatically shared, unless a passenger disables the feature in settings. Call operators will be able to dispatch more quickly and focus on the user's situation instead of collecting information on their whereabouts, Kandal said.
Kansal said the pilot cities for 911 integration were determined based on the technology available at 911 call centers in that area. The company plans eventually to expand the integration services beyond the pilot cities.
Uber's safety features will be accessible now from the home screen, with insurance protections, driver screening processes and community guidelines available. Riders can designate five friends and family members as trusted contacts and can share trip details with them as they choose so that those individuals can see when the rider has arrived at their destination.
Uber also bulking driver screening process
Uber said it would also strengthen driver screening by rerunning background checks and motor vehicle checks each year and by investing in technology that identifies new offenses by drivers.
Uber requires background checks for Tennessee drivers that extend seven years prior. The policy is based on a Tennessee law passed in 2015. In the 2015 assault in Murfreesboro, the man had a clean record for seven years, but going back prior, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation records showed arrests and convictions for domestic assault, aggravated assault, possession of controlled substances, forgery and theft.
In response to the CNN report, Uber pointed out the changes to the app and reiterated its commitment to safety.
"These stories are horrific and our hearts go out to the victims," an Uber spokesperson said in an emailed statement. "We worked with CNN to understand their findings and determined that Uber did 2.4 billion trips in the U.S. in that same period. But even one incident on our platform is too many which is why safety is Uber’s top priority for 2018 and beyond."
Uber company recently named former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson as chairman of its safety advisory board, to further boost its emphasis on safety. Additionally, Uber is partnering with the National Emergency Number Association to improve 911 communications for cellphones, meant to better connect callers to the correct 911 center.
Reach Jamie McGee at 615-259-8071 and on Twitter @JamieMcGee_.
