This Week in Rideshare: Shoppers, Women and Donations.
Instacart shoppers are fed up, women are fending for themselves, and Lyft makes a massive donation. LegalRideshare breaks it down.
MONDAY 1/17/22
One Instacart shopper had enough after getting hit with 1-star reviews. Mother Jones added:
When there aren’t too many positive things to share about your daily work experience, that’s just not something you want to continually burden your partner with. If someone gives you a tiny compliment in a rating and it’s your work accomplishment for the week, it feels rather pathetic. It just becomes an isolated, frustrating ball of stress. When I don’t have to do it, I will never look back. I will never open the app.
TUESDAY 1/18/22
Women drivers are being left to fend for themselves. The Verge reported:
In interviews with over 25 female rideshare drivers across the country, their experiences vary, from having passengers flirt with them, solicit them for sex, or making unwanted advances toward them. Many said they have taken to carrying pepper spray or other defensive weapons in their vehicles in defiance of the app company’s policies banning such items. All of the drivers said that they do not feel completely protected or supported by the companies on whose platforms they conduct their business.
“It just feels like they don’t care about our safety,” said one driver.
WEDNESDAY 1/19/22
Hackers are at it again and targeting Uber drivers. Local 10 News reported:
Carvalho said he assumed it was a new Uber security feature and entered his code. It was a trick and the hackers took over his account. The Uber driver never arrived and they stole $200.
“I always said I would never fall for it, and you know, of course, I’m running last minute to the airport, I’m trying to get there, I just want the car to get there,” Carvalho said.
At first, the driver who accepted his trip sent him a message asking for his phone number. He didn’t think much of it and disclosed it because finding his high-rise building on Biscayne Boulevard can be challenging. He received a text message with a 4-digit security code that appeared to be from Uber and another message from the driver through the app.
THURSDAY 1/20/22
Lyft just dumped the largest, one-time political donation in Massachusetts ever. Boston Globe reported:
The rideshare giant Lyft gave a whopping $14.4 million to a committee supporting the petitions, most of which came in a $13 million donation on Dec. 30, newly released records show. The single contribution is the highest the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance has ever listed in an online database that tracks reported donations to campaigns, ballot question coalitions, or other political committees regulated under state law.
FRIDAY 1/21/22
Amazon delivery vans keep getting stuck in the snow and the costs are hitting drivers and fleet owners. Vice reported:
Motherboard spoke to three other current and former owners of Amazon delivery companies who said that in the winter months, they frequently call tow trucks to rescue Amazon delivery vans and drivers that get stuck in the snow. While it’s common for cars to get stuck in the snow during the winter months, Amazon delivery company owners said that the vans they’re required to use are particularly prone to this problem, and that they have to spend thousands of dollars out of their own pocket towing them out.
LegalRideshare is the first law firm in the United States to focus exclusively on Uber®, Lyft®, gig workers, delivery and e-scooter accidents and injuries.
