PITTSBURGH — A local Uber driver is speaking out, and demanding more safety precautions days after Christina Spicuzza was murdered while driving for Uber.
She says that the app currently offers just isn’t enough to protect drivers, and that she’s tired of working in fear.
“We don’t know who is getting in our cars at all, we don’t know their criminal record, we don’t know anything,” said Lori Retsch, who has been driving for Uber for 7 years.
Retsch has completed over 12,000 rides.
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“We love doing this job,” she said. “Genuinely come out here daily and work very hard.”
A former yellow cab driver, she was once proud to work for Uber but now says more must be done to protect drivers like herself.
“Getting trips that say Z, or Zoro, or Potato Chip, you know, it makes it very uncomfortable,” Retsch shared.
Fake profile names and piggyback rides-when customers use friends accounts- are two of the scariest things for Uber drivers because they don’t know who they’re picking up.
“Then they’re behind us, we don’t know what they are going to do,” she explained.
Retsch says she has been harassed or physically attacked on multiple occasions.
“We need protection out here,” she pleaded. “Riders should have to show ID.”
Retsch is asking for Uber to require each rider to upload a picture of their ID once they place a pickup. She says friends joining should upload their identification to the app too.
“With technology today, there are so many ways they can go about making changes,” she said.
She wants change before another tragedy.
“That could have been any of us, so what do we do?” Retsch asked.
When Channel 11 reached out to Uber in regard to their safety practices, they sent us a list of measures put in place to protect drivers, that include 911 push buttons and a follow my ride feature.
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