Tech giant Uber is facing a terrifying reality check as new reports expose a disturbing pattern of sexual assaults plaguing their ride-sharing platform.

A bombshell New York Times investigation reveals that sexual assaults are reported every eight minutes on Uber’s platform, with a staggering 400,181 trips resulting in sexual misconduct reports between 2017 and 2022.

The Data Doesn’t Lie

Inner company documents paint a damning picture of corporate negligence. Uber’s own internal communications showed they identified technologies to prevent assaults but deliberately chose not to implement them. Why? Because installing safety cameras would legally require classifying drivers as actual employees – a move that would cost the company serious cash.

A Culture of Calculated Risk

Uber’s internal safety standards are chillingly candid: “Our purpose is not to be the police” and their goal is to “protect the company and set the tolerable risk level for our operations”. Translation? They’re cool with a certain number of sexual assaults as long as it doesn’t impact their bottom line.

The Gender Problem

Most victims are women, and assaults disproportionately happen on rides home from bars. Even more infuriating? Uber knew about a “women riders request women drivers” feature since 2019 but delayed implementing it in the US, fearing potential lawsuits from men’s rights activists.

While Uber claims 99.9% of rides happen without incident, that still means thousands of dangerous encounters. The company’s pursuit of profit continues to put rider safety at risk, proving once again that tech capitalism values dollars over human dignity.