I have taken an Uber exactly one time in my life so far. It was about a year ago, I was in Boston with my husband and it was his idea. At that time, Uber wasn’t as common as it is today, or at least I didn’t think it was. I had never heard of it and neither had a lot of other people I talked to about it. My husband does a lot of traveling for work though, so he was familiar with it.
I have to tell you, I don’t really trust anyone, so it took some convincing on his part that a ride from a total stranger who signed up to drive on an app, would be safe. I felt better knowing I wasn’t traveling alone and it was broad daylight, so I took the Uber ride with him. As it turns out, the ride was fine, and we arrived safely at our destination. Ok, so maybe Uber is alright afterall?
Fast forward a year later to this past weekend, my husband and I are traveling to Dallas, TX, but I have to come home earlier than he does from our trip. He has arranged for transportation to the airport, but didn’t arrange for a ride home for me from the airport, which I thought he’d also taken care of. When I asked how I’d be getting home, he said “get an Uber”. I said “no way, I’m not getting an Uber alone!” He could not understand why I wouldn’t want to hail an Uber at 1am in Boston, ALONE. I told him that I just don’t feel safe. He responded by saying it’s perfectly safe and that he’s used Uber alone a million times. There’s one difference here though, he’s a man and I am a woman. Maybe I’m a paranoid non-trusting woman, but I’d rather be that than be too trusting and get myself into a potentially bad situation.
He would not let it rest, he insisted that taking an Uber at 1 in the morning would be totally fine. My husband is also the type that literally worries about NOTHING. Ever. He trusts everyone until they prove they cannot be trusted, and he gives everyone the benefit of the doubt. I’m a worrier and like I said, I trust no one.
In an attempt to stop the bickering between us, I googled “Uber female deaths” and you know what came up in my search? A website called whosdrivingyou.com, that listed page after page of incidents that have happened to people (mostly female) when using Uber. I showed my husband and he STILL argued that these incidents are few and far between and insisted Uber was safe and that I should use it. He even offered to stay on the phone with me during my ride and also track my ride. My thought was, if I have to stay on the phone with you and you’re going to track my ride, it’s probably something I shouldn’t be doing.
I asked one of my girlfriends what her and her boyfriend thought of the situation. She agreed with me 100% saying she wouldn’t feel safe, and her boyfriend played devil’s advocate, seeing both sides of the situation. In the end, I ended up not having to use Uber, and instead we had a friend come pick me up. I felt a lot safer that way.
Do you trust ride sharing services like Uber? Would you take one alone? Do you think it’s safe for men, but not women? What are your thoughts?
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