Uber rolls out new safety feature after death of USC student last year

Nine months after University of South Carolina student Samantha Josephson was killed after getting in a car she mistakenly thought was her Uber, the ride-share company has rolled out a new safety feature.

Users of the popular Uber ride-share app will have the option to turn on a feature that sends riders a PIN number that they confirm with the driver before starting the ride.

Uber pilot-tested the program in December. By next week, the service will be available to all users, Uber spokeswoman Evangeline George said in a statement.

“I think that’s great what Uber is doing. But for us, it’s a great start, it’s one company,” Samantha Josephson’s father, Seymour, told News 12 New Jersey, which is in the family’s home state.

Shortly after Josephson’s death in March 2019, both USC and the Josephson family began to push for improved safety features and increased awareness for those using ride-share services such as Uber or Lyft, according to previous articles from The State.

One of those awareness campaigns has been #WhatsMyName, which encourages riders to ask their ride-share driver what their name is before getting in the car.

“While checking the license plate, car and driver details is still the primary way people can verify their ride, these new features add another layer of security riders can choose to use for extra peace of mind,” George said. “The more we can remind riders to verify they are getting in the right car, the better chance we have of helping to prevent something tragic from happening again.”

Some safety reforms have already been passed into law, such as an S.C. bill last year that requires ride-share drivers to display their license plate numbers on both the front and the back of the car for quick identification, according to a previous article from The State.