On Friday, March 30, University of South Carolina senior Samantha Josephson was murdered after mistakenly entering vehicle that she believed to be her Uber ride. Upon leaving a bar at 2 a.m., Josephson got into the car of 24-year-old Nathaniel Rowland, now charged with both kidnapping and murder. Josephson, a New Jersey native, was set to attend Drexel University’s Kline School of Law this fall.
This senseless act of violence has been on headlines across the country, likely because of how many ride share users have been in situations similar to that of Josephson.
Ride sharing apps has largely been a source of good through reducing the incidence of drunk driving, however, tragedies like this remind us of important safety precautions. These measures are even more important for college students, whose frequent use and association with drinking can pose a danger.
Uber recommends several safety tips for ride share users
- Request your ride while inside to avoid waiting outdoors with your phone in hand
- When your driver arrives, check the app to make sure that the license plate, driver photo and driver name match the car and driver before entering
- While en route, the Uber app allows you to “share status” and the Lyft app has a “send ETA” feature so that information about your ride and driver are can be shared with a family member or friend
- Monitor the GPS in-app to ensure that the driver is on the correct route
- Do not share your phone number with the driver. The ride share app allows you to anonymously communicate with your driver
- Provide feedback after your trip in order so that action can be taken in the case of inappropriate action
While it is important to ensure safety on a personal level, government can also take action to protect ride share users. In the days since this tragedy took place, South Carolina legislators have already introduced a bill related to ride share safety in Josephson’s name. The new law would require Uber and Lift drivers to display illuminated signs within vehicles.
VALLEY encourages you to take up these simple safety measures when using ride sharing apps in order to ensure the upmost safety.
Hello! I’ve been following your web site for a while now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Atascocita Tx! Just wanted to mention keep up the good work!
of course like your website but you have to test the spelling on several of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very bothersome to inform the truth nevertheless I’ll definitely come back again.
It’s really a nice and useful piece of information. I am happy that you just shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.
Heya! I realize this is sort of off-topic but I had to ask. Does building a well-established blog like yours take a lot of work? I am brand new to operating a blog however I do write in my journal every day. I’d like to start a blog so I will be able to share my experience and feelings online. Please let me know if you have any ideas or tips for new aspiring blog owners. Appreciate it!
Wonderful goods from you, man. I have understand your stuff previous to and you’re just too excellent. I really like what you’ve acquired here, really like what you’re saying and the way in which you say it. You make it entertaining and you still take care of to keep it sensible. I can’t wait to read far more from you. This is really a terrific web site.
Magnificent beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your website, how could i subscribe for a blog website? The account aided me a acceptable deal. I had been tiny bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered bright clear concept
Hello it’s me, I am also visiting this site regularly, this web site is genuinely pleasant and the users are actually sharing nice thoughts.