Although Uber brings comfortness for quick, accessible rides with just the tap of a finger, its safeness however, must be questioned as numerous passengers claim to have been harassed.

For several years now there have been multiple incidents involving mistreatment of passengers by Uber drivers. Many talked about being sexually assaulted, kidnapped and beaten. Two years ago, two female passengers sued Uber because their drivers allegedly raped them. It later turned out the driver had been previously charged with a felony. The lawsuit criticizes Uber’s security and doubtful process of their background checks, making clear that the driver shouldn’t have been hired.

Founded by Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp in 2009, Uber has continued to grow with currently over 40 million active users every month. As part of the company’s mission, it intends to provide a safe and reliable transportation for passengers, as well as help people earn money easily by being drivers. It longs to keep “streets safer” but that ambition is not what’s being delivered.

The Uber app lets users request rides without the need to call. Users can see the driver’s information which includes a picture, name, type of car and ratings given by previous passengers. This kind of system helps insure the safety of passengers, as the driver’s information is laid out, while passengers also have the choice to accept the ride or not. However, there is an important issue that needs to be quickly taken care of by Uber and that is background checking.

There are doubts circulating around the lack of proper background checking. Before someone can become a driver, Uber looks over the person’s past records and if any kind of “conviction for a felony, violent crime, or sexual offense within the last seven years,” as stated in Uber’s Help page, the person is unqualified. In the end, inaccurate background checking ultimately led to the discovery of many drivers with records of child molestation, murders, assaults and more. Sadly, many of these drivers have already taken action with their malicious plans.

Victims of these wicked crimes were not only the two women who sued Uber but others. According to the website http://www.whosdrivingyou.org, there are about 79 cases of alleged assaults, 337 cases of alleged sexual assaults and 20 cases of felons being drivers. Uber stands firm in its intention to supply the security and safety that passengers deserve and need. The drivers are immediately removed and banned from Uber after their unlawful acts but that’s the aftermath. What happened cannot be undone and victims’ lives are forever scarred.

Many people are still and will be affected by the potential dangers of riding a stranger’s vehicle, under a transportation company that declares safety is its main concern. It’s up to Uber to live up to what it truly stands for, which would require a change in the unreliability and inaccuracy of background checking