RIDE-HAILING app Uber yesterday pledged new safety measures in France after the firm’s French boss, Steve Salom, was summoned by Equalities Minister Marlene Schiappa.

Salom told AFP after the meeting that he vowed Uber will contact authorities to pass on all available information in the event of a sexual assault allegation, and that driver accounts will be immediately deactivated.

A facial-recognition device will be launched on Monday to verify that the person driving the vehicle is the registered driver.

And, said Salom, Uber France will undertake to “fully fund the psychological and legal monitoring of victims”, and “call the victim back in less than three minutes after a report (of an assault)”.

In France, the firm is under pressure from a viral campaign detailing sexual assault involving its drivers, under the hashtag #UberCestOver (Uber it’s over).

The company, which has come under fire around the world for its safety record, last week said it has tallied nearly 6,000 sexual assaults in the US over the past couple of years.

That included more than 450 cases of rape, according to Uber’s first public report on the issue, which counted attacks by both passengers and drivers over the 2017-18 period.

It also revealed 19 fatal assaults in the US related to the company over the two-year period, when it averaged more than 3.1 million trips daily. – AFP, December 13, 2019.