‘Really shocking’: Uber could face Australian reckoning over horror stories from women

Ubers are convenient and popular but the ride-share company is being dogged by claims of frequent inappropriate behaviour by its drivers, including indecent assaults.

The victims, often women, are fed up. They’re not only taking drivers to police, but they’re also going to court, blaming Uber for not doing enough to stamp it out.

While the company likes to suggest the perpetrators are just a few bad apples in the scheme of its worldwide operations, critics argue it’s a clear sign profit before safety is Uber’s real driving force.

There are about 40 million Uber rides globally every single day but among those are many horror stories.

More and more women – both in Australia and around the world – are documenting allegations of predatory driver behaviour and sharing details on social media.

In the US, Uber is being dragged to court but in Australia, regulatory authorities are only starting to look into it properly.

As they do, victims, lawyers and even politicians are now seriously thinking about whether Uber is due an Australian reckoning.

‘It’s really concerning’

In Australia, only a fraction of cases make it to the criminal courts, which means the true scope of alleged predatory Uber driver behaviour isn’t known.

The most striking indication we do have is in NSW, where a government-conducted survey found one in four women say they had experienced inappropriate or offensive conduct in ride-share vehicles and taxis.

A safety audit by Transport for NSW found there were more than 500 complaints to Uber – from passengers and drivers – about sexual misconduct and assault in a six-month period in the state.

Shockingly, it found in 94 per cent of the sexual misconduct complaints, the drivers remained active on the platform.

Cindy Bors is a lead class action lawyer at Slater and Gordon in Australia.

She’s been monitoring damning allegations in the US litigation against the company that Uber has been using an AI-powered algorithm that can predict the mathematical likelihood of a woman being assaulted or mistreated.

“As early as 2017, Uber engaged data scientists and those data scientists had developed an algorithm which basically risk-rated driver-passenger pairings,” Bors told 60 Minutes.

"It correctly anticipated 15 per cent of sexual assaults. It's really shocking. It's really concerning."

Alleged victims are now suing the company, with Uber in the US facing more than 3000 lawsuits.

In one, the company’s been ordered to pay a rape victim $US8.5 million ($12.1 million) in damages.

In another, it was ordered to pay $US5000 ($7123) for a driver gripping a woman’s leg.

And yet, Uber’s adamant it’s not its fault.

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‘It’s a systematic issue’

When Australian woman Taylor Mostacci was indecently touched by her Uber driver, she did the reasonable thing and complained to the company.

Mostacci can be heard detailing the incident to Uber in an audio recording of her complaint.

"I went to put my seatbelt on, he grabbed the seatbelt from me and then in doing that his arms were on me, resting on my chest," she said.

"He put his hands on my left breast and held it there for quite a few seconds."

You might think that would be the end of it – that the driver would be investigated and the company would take action.

But in reality, Mostacci’s case – in front of her friends, outside the dorms of Canberra’s Australian National University – wasn’t resolved for another five years.

“I definitely think Uber do hold responsibility,” Mostacci told 60 Minutes.

"This is actually a massive issue, and it's an issue, it's a systematic issue with this corporation who doesn't prioritise women's safety or safety in general."

Taylor was indecently touched in November 2021 but her case wasn’t concluded until the driver lost his appeal in March this year.

He was found guilty and sentenced to a 17-month good behaviour bond.

Watch the full episode on 9Now.

Uber spokesperson statement:

“What Taylor went through was traumatising, and we are deeply sorry for her experience.

We carefully considered her report and acted upon it immediately by removing the driver’s access to the platform.

However, the driver appealed his deactivation and, when further information about the complaint was not provided by authorities despite multiple requests, we reinstated the driver. His account has now been permanently deactivated.

An incident like this is one too many, and it strengthens our determination to advocate for platforms to be empowered to take action against drivers who threaten or violate women’s safety.

We remain committed to continually strengthening our technology, policies, and procedures to make every trip on the platform safer.”