There have been several reports of alleged sexual assaults committed by drivers of the taxi service Uber. Whilst is would be easy to single out Uber, and other car sharing services as being single handedly guilty for providing sexual predators with an easy mechanism for gaining potential victims, many licensed drivers (as well as unlicensed) have raped, and assaulted their passengers. Others have been involved in setting up muggings, extortions and the like. This blog article looks at preventative measures we can take when hiring taxis and driver services etc. It is much better to avoid and prevent an incident, than have to deal with one. Fighting in a confined space, such as a car, where the driver has put on the central locking, or where they have driven you to a location where there are third parties – possibly armed – who can assist them, severely affects your survival chances.

When a car or taxi service picks you up, they know little or nothing about you; this may be different if you book them through a hotel you are staying at, where the staff (if they have criminal connections) have the current length of your stay to observe you, and inform any car service they are colluding with – which is why it is often better booking cars/taxis yourself when you stay in such establishments. This means that the driver has to assess who you are, and whether you are suitable victim material very quickly. Often it is enough just to put a few doubts in their mind, as to whether you actually are a victim or not. One of the easiest ways to do this is to show that you have a level of awareness regarding your journey. When I get a taxi to my house from either the airport or downtown, I know there are several routes that my driver can take – and different exits off the highway. I will either ask, or tell my driver which one they should use. They now know that if they deviate from this route, either to bump up the fare, or in order to commit another crime, I will be aware of this, and will not be completely surprised by their behaviors and actions. Because they know I will be aware of any deviations they may take they can expect that I would enact certain other security measures, such as texting fiends or calling 911, should I become suspicious. Predators want easy victims, not people who make life difficult for them. Question your driver about their route, and let them know you are familiar with the journey and route they should take.

If you are in an unfamiliar area, where you don’t know the route a driver should take, you can use google maps on your phone, to map out the route beforehand, so that you don’t appear unfamiliar with the environment you are in. You can also set the route, and follow it once you are in the car, if your driver makes a turn, that doesn’t make sense, you can question them on it.

Use your phone to photograph the registration plate of the car that picks you up – text or email this to a friend. You can inform the driver that you do this as standard practice. If you need to inform somebody that your driver is going off route, they have information about the vehicle that they can give to police. The police now know the car they are looking for – even if the car is stolen, the police now know what – rather than who – they are looking for, which is likely to lead to a quicker identification. If you can couple this by giving a friend, your location/street name (by using google maps to track your journey) at the point you become suspicious of your drivers activities, then the police will have a much easier time locating the vehicle you are in. An assailant is limited in the attacks they can make when driving – this is the time to try and assess the threat level, and start responding.

Many predators, especially sexual, will line up their victims; they will not be emotionally ready to attack the first person they come across, but will need time to work themselves up and fantasize about the assault. It is often the case that a sexual assailant will attack, when they feel that the clock is running against them. A driver will probably not assault their first passenger, as the driver is not yet ready/confident enough to initiate an attack – later on in the evening this may have changed. By 1 AM in the morning, they may feel the clock is running out and they have to act. They may also assume/recognize that somebody using a car service at this time of night may well have had too many to drink and will be tired – so their guard will be down (waking/sobering yourself up and appearing in control at this moment is a good way to demonstrate this is not the case). Scheduling your evening out to start earlier rather than later, so that it will therefore finish earlier, is a good way to reduce your risk of being assaulted. If you are one of the “earlier” passengers who feels that your driver is acting/behaving strange, and that their conversation unsettles you, it may be worth informing the car service of this. A sexual predator building themselves up for an actual assault, will often “dry run” the build up to the assault on other individuals, before they execute it for real.

 As to whether Uber and other similar car services are riskier than licensed cabs, it’s a difficult one to call. Uber don’t do face-to-face interviews so it is easier for a socially awkward, and non-confident predator to get “hired” – also the more steps and processes a criminal will have to go through the more likely they are to be deterred, if there is a simpler more anonymous route this is the one they are more likely to take. With a licensed taxi firm, there is usually a dispatcher/controller involved, and so the driver is subject to some form of monitoring, and may be required to interact with another person. Also the construction of the taxi, sees a barrier between you and the driver – this means for them to get to you they have to get out of the car, and open a passenger door – which means a potential escape route is provided. In a regular car, an assailant can climb from the front to the back, without having to open a door, and if they keep the central locking on (or have child locked the back door), then the only way out is by climbing into the front – there is a lot of merit, not just for this reason, to sitting in the front passenger seat where possible.

As with any predator, not appearing like a potential victim, is one of your best defenses. Appearing to be in control of yourself and your environment is a good way of convincing any potential assailant, that they are better looking for another victim because you’re not it.