Uber Passengers Report Harassment and Theft

05/15/2017 - 12h29

May 2016. Jesscia gets in an Uber car that will take her to a nightclub in São Paulo. On the way, the driver harasses her and later waits for her at the door of the nightclub.

In the same month, at the Guarulhos airport, Evandro enters an Uber vehicle to go home. The driver asks him if they can pick up a relative of his on the way. The "relative" is armed and Evandro becomes the victim of express kidnapping.

These are some of the accusations made against Uber drivers registered in police reports of the São Paulo police.

Folha analyzed 1,120 documents in which the word "Uber" appears made between January 2015 and February 2017.

Of these, 684 had a direct connection with the app. Most of them report robbery, larceny and express kidnapping (319), conflicts with taxi drivers (153) or traffic accidents (135). In most cases, the driver was the victim.

There is, however, a series of complaints regarding crimes in which the offender was the driver himself. Uber says it has different measures of prevention.

"I was shocked," says Jéssica (real name withheld), 24, about the harassment she suffered. Sacked by Uber, the driver was already facing charges of rape.

In the case of Evandro Luiz Feres, 50, the criminals forced him to provide the PIN of his bank account and withdrew R$ 1,300 (US$ 418) - they also stole his personal belongings.

Specialists agree that insecurity is not exclusive of a particular app and say that taxis are not a safer type of transportation. São Paulo Mayor João Doria (PSDB) says that he has already ordered tighter inspection.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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