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Photo: U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell Official Portrait; via Wikipedia.
Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-MI) has called on Uber to provide further explanation about how the company handles reports of sexual assault and harassment involving its drivers, following new investigative reporting that raised serious concerns about rider safety and Uber’s background check practices.
In a letter (PDF) sent to Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Dingell expressed concern that information provided by Uber during prior discussions did not align with details revealed through recent public reporting. The letter follows an earlier communication and meeting in which Dingell says Uber’s explanations appeared inconsistent with investigative findings about the company’s safety processes.
The New York Times reported that between 2017 and 2022, Uber received an average of one report of sexual assault or misconduct every eight minutes, totaling 400,181 reports. Additional reporting described gaps in Uber’s background screening, including cases where drivers with prior convictions or repeated complaints remained on the platform. The reporting also raised questions about whether Uber’s internal systems can reliably identify dangerous patterns of behavior among drivers.
“The Times’ December reports shine a light on Uber’s background check policies and emphasize that despite Uber’s claim that all drivers have passed a background check, their ‘system approves people with many types of criminal convictions, including violent felonies’,” Dingell wrote. She noted that in many states, Uber allows drivers with older convictions to remain eligible, and that background checks often only cover locations where a person has lived in the previous seven years. According to the letter, this limitation may allow serious crimes committed elsewhere to go undetected.
Dingell also cited reporting that described multiple incidents of sexual assault involving drivers who had previously been reported, had arrests that did not trigger disqualification, or had prior convictions outside of the seven-year screening window. She expressed concern that Uber has resisted stronger safety regulations even while publicly stating that rider protection is a priority.
“It is extremely disturbing that Uber’s failure to make appropriate updates to policy and take meaningful action at several critical points to protect the company’s image and bottom line has led to assaults that could have been prevented,” Dingell wrote. The letter also highlighted the long-term psychological and emotional harm that survivors often experience following sexual assault.
As part of her inquiry, Dingell requested a follow-up meeting with Uber and asked the company to respond to a series of questions about reporting practices, driver oversight, teen account safety standards, complaint investigation procedures, and passenger reporting limitations. The questions focus on how Uber evaluates patterns of behavior, whether vague reports receive follow-up review, how training and acknowledgment requirements are enforced, and why stricter safety thresholds used for teen rides are not applied more broadly.
Dingell also asked Uber to explain how it plans to improve data collection from riders, noting that fewer than half of trips currently receive ratings, which may limit the company’s visibility into safety risks on the platform.
The congresswoman stated that meaningful reform is necessary to protect riders and ensure that reports of sexual misconduct are taken seriously before harm occurs.
