Genesis The Podcast

Rideshare Driver Predators: Sexual Assaults, Safety Gaps, Lawsuits, and How Women Can Protect Themselves

• Genesis Women's Shelter & Support

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How well do you know the driver of your rideshare? You don't. And you need to listen to this episode to understand what he is capable of and how to protect yourself.

In this episode, we’re pulling back the curtain on the risks women face in rideshares and the systemic gaps that let predators operate with impunity. Together with Susan Knape, founder of A Case for Women, we trace the data behind thousands of harassment and assault reports, the realities of underreporting, and why a nice-looking car can lull riders into a false sense of security.

You’ll leave this conversation with a clear safety playbook: always sit in the back, stay alert, avoid revealing personal details, confirm your pickup without saying your name, don’t route to “Home,” and share your trip with someone who’s watching the route and timing. We also push for real fixes—mandatory in‑car cameras, access barriers, and stronger oversight—that deter abuse and create evidence when harm occurs. 

If you’ve ever stepped into a rideshare and felt that uneasy twinge, this conversation gives you the context, tools, and resolve to protect yourself while we keep pressing for a safer system. We also challenge victim-blaming narratives, especially when rideshare companies market themselves as the “safe” alternative after drinking, and explore the heightened risks for teens, disabled riders, and passengers leaving medical procedures.

Before you step into a rideshare this holiday season, you deserve to know what you are getting yourself into.

SPEAKER_00:

This episode discusses incidents of rape and sexual assault. Holiday season is upon us, and most often that means celebrating with friends and family and maybe even a champagne toast at midnight on New Year's Eve. But before you step inside that rideshare vehicle, I want you to know what you're getting yourself into. My guest Susan Canapy, founder of A Case for Women, is here to expose the hidden dangers lurking for women inside of an Uber or Lyft and what you can do about it. I'm Maria McMullen, and this is Genesis the Podcast. Susan, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here.

SPEAKER_00:

It's good to be with you. We've been talking for months about doing a show together on a topic that I know we're both very interested in. But first I'd like to introduce our listeners to you and to a case for women. Tell us a little bit about your background and about the organization that you founded.

SPEAKER_01:

A Case for Women is an organization that I founded 10 years ago. We're an advocacy group for women, and what we do is help women connect with plaintiff attorneys who will represent them in civil lawsuits on a contingency fee basis. I'm also the president of a fund for women, which is a 501c3, and we're a nonprofit that provides small amounts of money to women who are in dire need of immediate funds.

SPEAKER_00:

Those are amazing missions. I know you're doing incredible work. I follow you on social media and read about some of the different initiatives that you're involved in. And I think it's work that needs to be done, and we don't probably see enough of it. We are going to talk today about one of those initiatives, and that is the hidden dangers of ride shares for women and girls. But I'm curious how you became interested in this topic.

SPEAKER_01:

It was really happenstance or providence, however you want to consider it. But in 2019, I was at a legal conference and a law firm approached me and said that they had heard that perhaps sexual assaults were happening in Ubers and Lyfts and wanted to know if we could dip our toe in the water and just see if we could find any women who had actually been sexually assaulted in this way. And I'll tell you, I thought, Maria, maybe there are a dozen women who had been actually assaulted in a ride chair. I took ride chair all the time. I strangely felt safe in it. So we started a social media campaign to really put the word out and say, hey, has anyone had a problem in an Uber and a Lyft? And we were overwhelmed by the responses. I couldn't believe it. So over the past six years, get ready, we have received 26,000 inquiries from women about some sort of sexual assault or sexual harassment or generally being made afraid for their lives in an Uber or left. And we have helped now over 4,000 women sign up for the lawsuit against these two companies. It is astronomical.

SPEAKER_00:

So 26,000 inquiries. And we're about to go through some other data related to the complaints that have been brought forward. And this was just from you posting or advertising the issue on your social media for a case for women.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. Now we do use both organic and paid social media, but this was all a case for women, and it's on primarily Facebook and Instagram. And actually, Instagram has been where most of the women have come to us.

SPEAKER_00:

That's interesting. We have a big following on Instagram for the show as well and our other podcast, the podcast on crimes against women. And I don't know why that is. I don't know why we have more followers there, especially women who are interested in the topics that we discuss. Now, you brought up uh some lawsuits, and we're going to talk about that. Now, in the past few years, both Uber and Lyft have received thousands of complaints themselves related to inappropriate and in some cases illegal driver behavior. So I read an article in Time published in November 8th, 2025, titled Male Drivers Sue Uber and Lyft for Sex Discrimination Over Women Only Ride Hailing feature. Now I'm going to come back to that, okay? But here's a quote about the incidents reported of sexual harassment or sexual assault from that article. And this is a quote. According to Uber's most recent U.S. safety report, which covered 2021 to 2022, they received 2,717 reports of serious sexual assault or misconduct. 68% of those reports were against drivers. The most common report included non-consensual touching and penetration. The latter accusation disproportionately affected women who represented 89% of the survivors while men represented 8% in 2021. Lyft released a similar report that said there were more than 1,800 reports of sexual assault during Lyft rides in 2019 and 4,000 reports of sexual assault during rides from 2017 to 2019. And you can read this article for yourself on time.com. So there are some stats that have been reported. What other data, Susan, can you share about these incidents?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, those stats track with what we're seeing. And of course, the New York Times ran a very detailed article this past fall on the issue of Uber in particular and what they knew and didn't know and the stats that they have internally about sexual assault. But the bottom line is, and this is according to the New York Times article, that when you look at the reports to Uber, and I want to put a little asterisk there, that someone is assaulted about every eight minutes in an Uber specifically. Now, do I think that stat is correct? I think that stat is under-reported because, as we all know, women tend not to speak up, at least they don't speak up immediately after some sort of sexual assault. And what we have found from those 26,000 inquiries that have come to us is that many women take a year, two years before they feel comfortable enough to say anything. And we have found many women actually who might have gone to a hospital for a rape test, or they might have gone to therapy to deal with the trauma, but they didn't necessarily report it to Uber at the time. It just didn't even occur to them to say anything to Uber. That may seem strange, but when you're in that fight or flight kind of mode, you don't necessarily do what might seem to be the practical choice.

SPEAKER_00:

You're absolutely right. We say this about domestic violence and sexual assault all the time at Genesis that one in three women in Texas reportedly experience domestic violence, but we know that that number is much higher. Let's talk about the unique risks women face compared to other passengers being men in a ride share vehicle.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, a thousand percent women are vulnerable here. That just makes all the sense in the world because you have a male driver, you have a woman passenger, and I would really like to expound on what are the reasons that make a woman more vulnerable and give your listeners some ideas of how they can take action to protect themselves. Because first of all, I think that women, at least I was until we started this campaign six years ago, very naive about the kinds of protocols that Uber and Lyft drivers actually go through and the kind of safety protocols that are in place. I thought, for example, and I think this is something that a lot of women think that Ubers, just because a black car might look nice, it's far safer than a taxi that might look a little grungy. That's just not true. Let's remember here that Ubers and Lyfts are using a business model of independent contractors. That means that there tends to be far less scrutiny in terms of background tests and other kinds of checks that are done before anyone is hired. There's far less scrutiny in terms of the ongoing training and the type of communications that go on during a ride. If you've been to New York City or anywhere, you know that usually when you're in a taxi, the guy has a two-way radio that's going on. A lot of times there are videos in those cars. There's a plexiglass screen. That plexigrass screen might seem grungy, like everybody's touched it and you don't want to get near it. And so you might feel yuck. But in fact, all of those things are really making you safe. And what happens, I think, is women, we get into that Uber, especially if it's a nicer, newer car, and think this feels safe, this feels comfortable, so I'll let my guard down. That is the single most dangerous thing you can do is letting your guard down when you get into an Uber or a Lyft. Now, what does that mean that you can do? First of all, never ever ever sit in the front seat with a driver. Some of the drivers, and we have seen this over and over again from women who have been assaulted, will make up stories to get you to sit in the front seat. They'll say, Oh, that seatbelt in the back doesn't work. Or they'll say something else, and so they get you to sit up front with them. Even if you're the only one in the car, right? Even if you're the only one in the car. But we see women who fall for that. The guy seems nice and he'll say, Oh, I've had a trouble with that seatbelt, or I've got a seat warmer in the front seat, or whatever it is. So they get you up front. The second thing we see is that women do tend to let down their guard. If they're being picked up, for example, from the airport or after a long day of meetings, or they've been out to a party and had a couple of drinks with friends. They're gonna let down their guard. They're gonna think, oh, I did the right thing to call somebody else instead of trying to drive myself. So now I can finally take a breath and relax. And they may even doze off in a car. So not being completely aware of what's going on is something else that we see women do, which allows these drivers, these predators to take advantage of them. Finally, what we see is that women may share too much information. When they get into the car, they may say, Oh, are you picking up Susan? You don't want to say that. You want to ask the guy, who are you picking up? And then when you're in the car, you want to be sure that the driver knows that A, you are not letting down your guard, and B, you're about to go see some hunky guy who will punch their lights out if they try anything. So you may not be going to see a hunky guy, you may be going alone to your home, but never let him know that he's taking you to your house. Do not put home in the app as your destination. Just if you have to get on a pretend call with someone where you're stating, oh honey, I'll be home soon. I can't wait to see you, whatever it is to let that guy know that you've got somebody at the other end of this ride who's going to be expecting you.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think that is good advice. And I'm curious, I probably know the answer to this, but what are the safety concerns that were reported to you? I know that some of them included sexual assault that were reported in the article that I cited, but what are the concerns that were reported to you when you did the outreach on this story?

SPEAKER_01:

First of all, when it comes to sexual assault, there's a whole range of things, right? So some of those 26,000 women who came to us just felt uncomfortable in the ride because the guy might have been saying inappropriate things to her, commenting on her appearance, asking, is this where you live? Do you have a boyfriend? That kind of thing. That's on one end of the spectrum. And frankly, those women don't have the opportunity to move forward in civil litigation. Something bad happened, they felt harassed, but it wasn't to the level of a lawsuit. But 18% of those 26,000 women were actually sexually assaulted to the point of penetration. So it was full on sexual assault. 18%. I think that's an astoundingly high number. And that number has remained consistent over the past six years and is consistent today, that really blows my mind.

SPEAKER_00:

So there's still an average of 18% of women who report an incident in a ride share that it was a full-on rape.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, some sort of penetration, yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Incredible and really super disturbing. How do rideshare companies currently address the safety for female passengers?

SPEAKER_01:

That's the point of the lawsuits, is to get them to address it. And we think that there are lots of things that they could be doing that they're not doing. There are some things that the rideshare companies have done in the past few years that are helpful. For example, share your ride is helpful. That's nice.

SPEAKER_00:

But is share your ride? Share your ride. You mean to add ride with another person?

SPEAKER_01:

I'm referring to online, for example, my daughter just came into town last weekend, and when she got into the car, she shared her ride with me, which meant I got to see on the app the progress of her ride. So if for some reason it was taking too long to get from DFW to our home, I would realize that, right? So I could follow her and see. I know it should take about 20, 25 minutes. So sharing your ride is really important. That's a good thing that they've done, and we're happy about that. They've also just launched the women. You can request a woman driver, for example, in Dallas now, and that's a great thing. There is one problem with that, is that there are not enough women drivers, and that's a whole nother discussion. But that is a start. So those are good things, and we're happy that that is going on. But the single most important thing, and in my opinion, that Uber and Lyft could do are put mandatory videos in the cars. So that is a real detriment to these drivers getting away with anything. And Uber in the New York Times report indicated that they had looked at that and seen that as a very viable solution to the problem of sexual assaults, but chose not to proceed with that initiative.

SPEAKER_00:

Is there any explanation why?

SPEAKER_01:

I would have to hypothesize on that. But the there was actually a presentation, and again I'm quoting the New York Times article back in 2017 where the presentation was made about the video cameras. Now, their reason for not putting them in the cars had to do with the independent contractor model that they use, and they don't own the cars. The independent contractors own the cars. So it's very different than a taxi where you're getting into a vehicle that is owned by a company and operated by someone who is an employee. You have much more jurisdiction over what goes on. Uber and Lyft both lean on that independent contractor model, not just to save money, but also, in my opinion, to avoid some liability and to avoid the perception of being responsible for what drivers do.

SPEAKER_00:

Sure. Speaking of these safety features, the article that I mentioned a few minutes ago from Time titled Mail Drivers Sue Uber and Lyft for Sex Discrimination over Women Only Ride Hailing feature. It's an interesting perspective. And this is in, I believe, California. Mail drivers have decided that the safety feature, designed to make women feel safer to take an Uber or Lyft, believe that in doing so, they will get less business, less rights, therefore less income, and they feel it is discriminatory. How do you respond to that?

SPEAKER_01:

They certainly have the right to their lawsuit. However, the vast majority of drivers are male. And Uber and With both struggle to find women drivers. So if right now you were to try to get a woman driver specifically for your ride and you needed to be somewhere quickly and you couldn't wait, chances are you're not going to get a woman driver. There are just not enough women drivers, which brings up another question. Why? Because we are also seeing women drivers being sexually assaulted by passengers. That is another problem. It's less visible, but it's a real problem. So that's why women don't want to drive, or women will limit the times of day that they drive. So they're driving during daytime, but they're not going to want to pick up at DFW at night.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. To your point, the world's just not dangerous for the people who take the Uber. The women who drive an Uber too have their own new set of dangers. I'd be interested in that data too.

SPEAKER_01:

We are contacted all the time by drivers who have been assaulted, some of them horribly, by passengers. So that is another area that I think Uber and Lyft need to get better about.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm not as knowledgeable as you or others are on this topic, but I would think it would only make sense to put up some type of safety panel and have a camera recording in the car at all times when you're driving passengers.

SPEAKER_01:

A thousand percent. I hope that these lawsuits bring about a change in the safety protocols and top of my personal list, and I think every law firm's list would be to have those video cameras going on that were mandatory and that could not just be arbitrarily turned off.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. Let's talk a little bit about the lawsuits that have occurred and the ones that are pending.

SPEAKER_01:

Uber and Lyft are two separate companies. So there are separate lawsuits against both of the companies. Since Uber has more of the market share, they're about 70% to Lyft's 30% of the total market. There are obviously more lawsuits against Uber right now. And those lawsuits have been concentrated in what's called multi-district litigation and MDL in California. The first, what is called a bellwether trial, which will be in January. So January of 2026 will be the first trial from that group of about 2,700 cases that have been consolidated in this one group in Northern California. That's going to be very telling to see what happens. And in fact, that trial is occurring, I think it's mid-January and it's in Arizona. So that will be the first real indicator of how this is going to go. Now I will say that Uber has privately settled hundreds of cases, but we do not know what those values are because they've been confidential. And those were civil lawsuits. Yes, all of this is civil lawsuits. Now, Uber and Lyft have both been in criminal lawsuits. That's a whole different thing that we're not really involved in. But all of these are civil lawsuits.

SPEAKER_00:

Let's talk about legislation then related to all of this. Have legislators or have they responded to allegations against Uber and Lyft? And what more can they do?

SPEAKER_01:

That's really interesting because there's not as much going on there as you would think. Given the publicity about the sexual assaults in Uber and Lyft, you would think somebody would jump on this, but no one really has. Now, I'll tell you a couple things that have happened. In 2019, there was federal legislation passed. It's called Sam's Law. And this had to do with the problem of cars posing as Ubers and Lyfts. And what happened was there was a horrific murder that was because someone got into a car that was pretending to be either an Uber or Lyft, I don't recall. And it was a horrific tragedy. So Sam's law forced the Ubers and Lyfts to be very specific with their signage, very pronounced about their official status. And that is something that's good that has happened. That was in 2019. And just this past year, in 2025, in Colorado, though, a state rep was sexually assaulted. And she then introduced legislation to implement safety measures such as more thorough background checks for these Uber and Lyft drivers and video recordings in the cars. And guess what happened? They lobbied so hard against this, threatened to pull out of the state, that finally the proposed legislation was dropped. So it's it's gone away. The other thing that's happened, which I thought was interesting and not really all that helpful, but in Alabama, right now in November, there was a legislation proposed that only English speakers could be drivers. Well, okay. Frankly, I would rather have a non-English speaker who didn't sexually assault me than an English speaker who sexually assaulted me. So I think that just misses the mark.

SPEAKER_00:

It's an interesting mix. It certainly could be a whole lot more. And we're hoping that through this episode we'll get the word out. But one of the primary reasons I wanted to share this information, and especially this time of the year, because now we're in December 2025, really just about to jump right into the full-blown holiday season. I want people to know how to protect themselves against a predatory driver before they get in that car while they're celebrating holidays. So, what ways can women protect ourselves against a predatory driver?

SPEAKER_01:

That's a great question, Maria. The first thing I would say is if you have been at a Christmas party, out having fun with your friends, try not to get into an Uber or Lyft alone. Get one of your friends to come with you. There is power in numbers. But if you are alone, here's a few things that are just must-dos. First of all, always sit in the back seat. Never get tricked into sitting in the passenger seat. Second of all, do not doze off in the car. Stay alert at all times. Third of all, do not let the driver know if you are going to be home alone or you're meeting a girl. Let him think always that you are going to meet a man who is going to be there and be concerned if you don't show up at the right time. So you can't get into an Uber and Lyft and just relax. You have to stay on your game.

SPEAKER_00:

That's great advice. And I think it's something that everyone should be aware of. And I want to make sure we spread the word on what we can do to protect ourselves as well as just the dangers of being in a ride chair, especially now that it's a really busy time of year. There may be some other special precautions that certain groups need to take, such as teens, or maybe the elderly, or people with different abilities. What would you recommend here?

SPEAKER_01:

Sadly, that's something we have seen. We have seen teenagers sexually assaulted in Ubers and Lyfts. We have also seen drivers take advantage of women who are coming out of surgery centers where they might be still under the effects of anesthesia. We have seen drivers take advantage of the disabled too. So it's horrific. Just in each of those cases, if you can have someone else with you, that is the first line of defense. The second line of defense is to stay very alert and to make sure that the driver does not see you as someone who is vulnerable. I also want to point out that too often survivors of sexual assault get blamed themselves for the assault. And we see this sort of shaming going on with Uber and Lyft because maybe a woman went to a party, she had a few drinks, and then decided to call the ride share instead of driving. And then she's blamed because she was intoxicated in a ride chair. I just want to set the record straight on this because Uber and Lyft's selling point, with their own ads that I'm holding in my hand right now, it says, don't drink and drive. It's an Anheuser-Busch, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Mad Uber ad, where they are all together showing us that you should take a ride share after you've been drinking. So they're promoting that as a safe way to get home. And yet their own drivers are taking advantage of women if they have been drinking and choose to safely get home in a ride share.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, this is like the oldest story in the book, right? On how to victim blame. What is the headline on the advertisement?

SPEAKER_01:

It says, keep the holidays safe, don't drink and drive.

SPEAKER_00:

I definitely agree with the statement, don't drink and drive. But keeping the holidays safe requires a subjective response. What can people do if they want to learn more about this issue or get involved?

SPEAKER_01:

I would encourage people to go to our website, a caseforwomen.com. We have a section there on rideshare, sexual assault, to learn more. You can also contact us. But the goal here is really for women to understand that if something bad has happened to you in an Uber or Lyft, it's not your fault. And we don't want you to be ashamed to come forward. We want to make this process easy for you. So please contact us if you have felt in any way that you have been sexually harassed or, God forbid, abused in an Uber or Lyft. Our goal is not just to help individual women with their lawsuits, but it is to put pressure on Uber and Lyft to make the changes that they need to make so that this becomes safe for everyone. I want this to be safe for my daughters. I want it to be safe for your family.

SPEAKER_00:

That's excellent advice. Susan, thank you so much for your work in this area and for talking with me today. I wish you a very happy and safe holiday. Thank you so much. Genesis Women's Shelter and Support exists to give women in abusive situations a way out. We are committed to our mission of providing safety, shelter, and support for women and children who have experienced domestic violence and to raise awareness regarding its cause, prevalence, and impact. Join us in creating a societal shift on how people think about domestic violence. You can learn more at GenesisShelter.org and when you follow us on social media, on Facebook and Instagram at Genesis Women's Shelter, and on X at Genesis Shelter. The Genesis Helpline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by call or text at 214 946 HELP. 214 946 4357.