Uber has published a safety report documenting over 3,000 reported sexual assaults between drivers and passengers using the ride-sharing service last year.
The company’s 84-page report recorded a total of 3,045 sexual assaults in 2018, including 235 reported rapes, six more than during the previous year.
“Confronting sexual violence requires honesty, and it’s only by shining a light on these issues that we can begin to provide clarity on something that touches every corner of society,” Uber’s chief legal officer Tony West said. “And, most importantly, by bringing hard data to bear, we can make every trip safer for drivers and riders alike.”
Uber also said in its report that 107 people were killed in 97 crashes using the service over the past two years.
The company acknowledged that the decision to share its safety information was a difficult one but said it eventually concluded that “the issues in this report are bigger than Uber and impact every corner of society as a whole.”
“Simply put, we don’t believe corporate secrecy will make anyone safer,” the report states.
Uber also said it is working with the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network to combat safety issues, including adding features to the app such as a secure PIN code to identify the identity of drivers.
However, the company also emphasized that serious security incidents are rare given the scale of the mammoth ride-sharing business, which boasts nearly 4 million Uber trips each day in the U.S.
The safety report also comes after Uber’s competitor Lyft was sued in San Francisco by over 30 women alleging that drivers sexually assaulted or harassed them during rides.