Uber’s protocol for background checks on its drivers, and the sense that riders who entered the cars of strangers could do so with a feeling of safety, came under fire after a series of violent and shocking incidents involving its freelance operators. In August 2015, in Charleston, South Carolina, Uber driver Patrick Aiello kidnapped a woman and assaulted her inside of his vehicle while on the job, per the Post and Courier. According to the Athens Banner-Herald, Georgia-based driver John Kamen gave a ride to a woman in December 2015, then allegedly followed her into her home, assaulted her, and burglarized the house. And in 2015, police in Kalamazoo, Michigan, fielded a 911 call from an Uber customer who rode in a vehicle driven by Jason Dalton, reporting erratic driving. Uber heard other complaints about Dalton that day, the same day he went on a shooting spree that left six people dead, according to WKYC.
Just after the Kalamazoo tragedy, Uber chief security officer Joe Sullivan said on a media conference call that the company saw no reason to change its screening process. “The perpetrator had no criminal record and if there’s nothing on someone’s record, no background check is going to raise a flag,” Sullivan said. A few months later, Uber pulled out of the Austin, Texas, area completely after voters there refused to overturn a fingerprinting law designed to provide more background info on ride-share drivers, according to News4SanAntonio.
