Uber app offers a new way to contact emergency services

By Trevor Mogg Published April 25, 2023

Safety is everything for ridesharing services. If they can’t keep their passengers safe and fail to take measures to improve personal security, few people will want to use such offerings.

Recommended Videos

With that in mind, Uber is beginning to roll out a new feature that lets riders quietly text 911 if a dangerous or scary situation develops during a trip and they need help fast.

Uber riders can already call 911 from the app, but the new text-to-911 feature offers a more discreet way of calling for help, which could prove vital if the driver is the source of the problem and the rider wants to alert the police without drawing attention for fear of making the situation worse. It also allows the rider to stay in touch with the dispatcher, which could provide reassurance and also help the vehicle to be located more quickly.

The feature has already been tested in Los Angeles, Indiana, and Minnesota and is now available in locations across the U.S. where the emergency services are able to receive texts, Uber told Digital Trends.

How it works

First, open the app’s Safety Toolkit and tap on 911 assistance. Next, you’ll see an option to call 911, or, if the feature is available in your area, a button to send a text instead.

Tap on this option and the message auto-populates with details of your ride. You can also add more information before sending the message to a 911 dispatcher who can respond by text and also send assistance.

Safety report

Uber has come under heavy criticism in the past for its safety record but in recent years has been steadily adding various safety-related features, including real-time driver ID check, 24/7 support, and the ability to share trip details with friends and family.

Uber’s first-ever safety report, published at the end of 2019, showed that it received reports of more than 3,000 sexual assaults alleged to have taken place during Uber trips in the U.S. in 2018.

While the company acknowledged the seriousness of the situation, it was also keen to point out that 99.9% of the 2.3 billion U.S. Uber trips occurring throughout 2017 and 2018 took place without any reported safety issues.

Responding at the time to the contents of the report, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said: “I suspect many people will be surprised at how rare these incidents are; others will understandably think they’re still too common. Some people will appreciate how much we’ve done on safety; others will say we have more work to do. They will all be right.”

Lyft also has an in-app 911 button, but doesn’t yet include a text-to-911 feature. We’ve reached out to Uber’s ridesharing rival to ask if it’s planning to introduce such a feature.

Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

Topics

Cars

Order an Uber and a self-driving Mustang might show up

Electronics, Phone, Mobile Phone

Ordering an Uber in London could come with a surprise today. Instead of a conventional car and driver pulling up, you might find a Ford Mustang Mach-E that can drive itself. Uber has launched London's first public robotaxi service in partnership with British autonomous driving company Wayve. The service is available through the Uber app, meaning you don't need to download anything new or book a special type of ride to try it.

There is one important caveat. Although the cars will handle the driving themselves, a trained safety operator will initially sit behind the wheel, ready to intervene if necessary. Fully driverless rides are planned for a later stage. The launch fleet consists of electric Mustang Mach-Es equipped with cameras, radar, and Wayve's AI Driver technology. These systems give the vehicle a 360-degree view of what's happening around it. And if anywhere can put that technology through its paces, London seems like a pretty good candidate.

Cars

Range Rover Electric arrives with 543hp, 600km range, and a starting price of the moon

The electric Range Rover is here, and your wallet may need CPR

Range Rover EV

The Range Rover has never been shy about luxury, size or price, and its first fully electric version is carrying that tradition into the EV era. Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) first battery-electric Range Rover is now open for orders, starting at £154,070, or about $208,420. That makes it one of the most expensive electric SUVs on the market.

The electric model costs almost £50,000 more than the standard combustion-engine Range Rover. It is priced in the same territory as the electric Mercedes-Benz G 580 and not far from ultra-luxury gasoline SUVs such as the Bentley Bentayga.

Cars

A solar ambulance has successfully tackled 500 miles of difficult terrain

Stella Juva

For years, solar-powered vehicles have largely lived in the world of prototypes, university projects and ambitious demonstrations. Now, one has completed the kind of test that matters far more than a flashy concept reveal: it drove hundreds of miles through difficult terrain while carrying medical equipment and generating enough electricity to operate independently.

Called Stella Juva, the vehicle was developed by Solar Team Eindhoven, a group of 23 students from Eindhoven University of Technology and two other educational institutions. According to a CNN report, the team describes it as the world's first solar ambulance. Unlike a conventional ambulance, however, Stella Juva is designed less to rush patients to hospitals and more to bring medical care to people who cannot easily reach it.