Many women who use rideshare services want to stay safe, especially at night. Uber is making it easier for them by putting all its safety tools in one place. Now, users can access and customize these tools more easily.
In the app’s new safety preferences section, passengers can choose when their safety tools should turn on automatically. They can set it for every ride after 9 PM, on weekends, or for rides that start near a bar or restaurant. They can also make sure the safety features are on for every ride they take.
One tool passengers can use is audio recording, which Uber introduced before. Uber says these recordings are encrypted, so no one can access them, not even Uber. But if something happens during the trip, passengers can report it and share the recording with Uber for proof.
Users can also turn on PIN verification to make sure they’re getting into the right vehicle. RideCheck is another tool that helps Uber know if a ride goes off-course or stops suddenly. Lastly, Share My Trip lets passengers share their live location and trip details with trusted contacts.
Right now, the new safety preferences page is only available in the US, Canada, and some Latin American countries. But Uber plans to make it available in more places soon. Users can find the new portal by going to Settings or tapping the Safety Toolkit shield during a trip and selecting “Set up safety preferences.”
