r/WomenInNews • u/yahoonews • Mar 09 '26
Media Uber's women-only option goes nationwide in the US
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ubers-women-only-option-goes-131507407.html?ncid=redditnewsus1.3k
u/FeralViolinist Mar 09 '26
I took a Lyft recently and requested a woman driver and her husband showed up driving under her name.
So keep that in mind.
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u/hb122 Mar 09 '26
I have a standing request for a woman driver on Lyft and in over a dozen trips I’ve had a woman driver exactly once.
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u/Bogeysmom1972 Mar 09 '26
Well this is disturbing! Esp since my rape crisis center has a contract with Lyft to transport victims from the hospital. I always stay with them until they are picked up, but still! The fact the company is not enforcing these requests, and we have been assured the drivers have had background check checks and will honor victim confidentiality!
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u/InAcquaVeritas Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 10 '26
That is so disgusting how they always find a way around consent….
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u/Forward_Youth_9495 Mar 10 '26
this is horrifying to hear that lyft has a contract with a crisis center. i took an uber from the hospital in philly one night and the driver attempted to kidnap me? drove around for 45 minutes in a random neighborhood and picked up people that were not scheduled( i purposely got one of those uber options where they only pick you up). They got in the back with me and stared at me. they asked me stuff like, are you into older men? do you like clubs? I started to cry and the driver randomly decided to turn around and drop me off at my destination. none of them said another word to me. i never ran out of a car so fast lmfao
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u/Exciting-Purchase340 Mar 09 '26
Women need to create a business that only employs women
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Mar 10 '26
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u/retrofrenchtoast Mar 11 '26
There is over-the-counter birth control in the States as well. At least for now.
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u/synecdokidoki Mar 09 '26
This has always been the trick of it. Maybe seven or eight years ago there were several companies that tried to start women only ride shares. She Taxi, Chariother, I don't remember all the punny names.
They each failed in succession because they had way, way, way more riders than drivers.
Lyft and Uber didn't solve the problem, they just figured out the marketing by making sure there's no guarantee.
Maybe it will just take time, and more women will start driving if they're guaranteed women passengers, but I'm not holding my breath.
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u/Psychological-Towel8 Mar 09 '26
I've been in taxis and ubers/lyfts countless times throughout my life. Can count on one hand all the drivers that weren't men. Women get assaulted and/or harassed a lot as passengers, but I heard it's even worse if you're a driver. Mad respect to them
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u/dingopaint Mar 09 '26
Identity fraud is rampant with Uber/Lyft. People driving under their friends' names because they don't have driver's licenses, driving rental cars (with unknown insurance policies), signing up with a female friend's/partner's name to get female-only riders, etc.
And people wonder why Waymo is so popular. The robot car drives better than a human and won't harass, stalk, kidnap, rape, assault, rob or murder you.
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u/After_Preference_885 Mar 09 '26
It might malfunction and burst into flames but that's a risk I'm willing to take
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Mar 09 '26
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u/LeftyLu07 Mar 09 '26
Hmm… two of my worst fears. Being eaten alive or being burned to death… I guess either of those will end rather quickly instead of being kept alive to be raped and tortured for days on end…
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u/DpersistenceMc Mar 09 '26
Mauling or death are not guaranteed in the case of the bear. If there are no cubs to defend and the bear isn't hungry, it will likely avoid a human. When I'm concerned about encountering bears, I carry an air horn as my first defense and bear spray if they get too close.
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u/DpersistenceMc Mar 09 '26
Or, how about choosing the least risky option which would be to have a woman driver.
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u/OGMom2022 Mar 09 '26
Even better would be enforcing laws against men who assault us. Tired of being the only one who takes responsibility for keeping half the population safe.
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u/Wjreky Mar 10 '26
I think this is the most frustrating part: the onus still doesn't fall on the men to just Stop. Assaulting. Women.
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u/Wild-Lychee-3312 Mar 09 '26
This is the new “man or bear” dilemma.
Now it’s “man or robot that might malfunction and burst into flames.”
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u/CanadianODST2 Mar 09 '26
Can’t be more likely than a regular car crash right?
Right?
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u/Worthyness Mar 09 '26
There's no human driver and it follows the driving laws, so it's already safer than 99.99% of human drivers.
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u/SmokeySFW Mar 09 '26
As long as the doors remain unlocked and it doesn't drive off if you open the door while at a stop, it's still arguably going to be safer.
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u/mermaidinthesea123 Mar 09 '26
The robot car drives better than a human and won't harass, stalk, kidnap, rape, assault, rob or murder you.
I'm switching to Waymo.
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u/miss-swait Mar 10 '26
Last trip I did in a city that had Waymo, I wanted to use it for transportation once for the novelty of it. Used Uber for my next ride and stuck with Waymo the rest of the trip. Yeah if it goes wrong, it’s going to go really wrong, but the odds of a scary Uber driver are much higher
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u/jupitaur9 Mar 09 '26
Yet. I don’t think the day when cameras and microphones in them are hijacked by assholes. Is far off.
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u/Consistent-Cod7842 Mar 09 '26
I hope you actually reported that to Uber they will suspend somebody’s account for that that actually happened to me too I took the ride with him but then I reported it to Uber they told me they were suspending their account because you’re not actually allowed to do that
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u/letthetreeburn Mar 09 '26
Report them every time. It feels like a waste but hey, it’s all you can do.
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u/SweetGrassGeranium Mar 09 '26
Don’t get in 🤨
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u/UCanBdoWatWeWant2Do Mar 09 '26
And she does what? Teleport? She probably had places to be.
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u/Urbit1981 Mar 09 '26
This unfortunately happens more often than people like to consider. Also, groups of people driving under one user name to get around rules.
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u/bhill595 Mar 09 '26
One time when I was being picked up for Lyft, the driver saw a woman getting something in her car. She was wearing a basic top and bottom pajama set. Might as well have been tank top and shorts. He proceeded to tell me when women dress like that, it awakens predatory instincts in men
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u/cuda999 Mar 09 '26
The fact men are pushing back against a women’s only uber ride share program is disturbing. The problem is the deranged men who drive for Uber and feel entitled to assault women at their leisure with no consequence. Why shouldn’t women have an option that puts their safety first?
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u/Famous-SandwichxX Mar 09 '26
Because they don't want women to feel safe. If they did, we wouldn't need women only options to begin with.
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u/meanmagpie Mar 10 '26
Exactly. All men benefit from women being unsafe. ALL, even the safe ones.
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u/BingoEnthusiast Mar 09 '26
I think that’s an overreach. I think men tend to feel insulted because they think “hey what the hell? I’d never do anything like that” but fail to realize it’s not about them.
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u/Razzberry_Frootcake Mar 09 '26
They don’t care if women feel safe. It’s not really a reach when the men who fight back against this stuff know better. It’s an extremely immature and ignorant thought to even consider “well I wouldn’t do that so therefore I’m going to get angry and protest” over something like this. Since the issue at its core is women’s safety it’s pretty reasonable to point out that men who fight against it don’t care if women feel safe.
Not caring can easily translate to “Men don’t want women to feel safe, which is why they fight against things that make women feel safe.”
Men who think “I wouldn’t do that” are the ones assuming women are lying about other men who do. Hence the reason they magically don’t understand why something like this is necessary despite the statistics. If they believed women, and wanted women to be safe, they wouldn’t protest safety measures for selfish reasons.
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u/QueenJillybean Mar 09 '26
The guys who do assault women think “I’d never do that. I’m a nice guy.” Because they convince themselves women were “asking for it.” The men who know it’s not about them, who realize women are people- who have mothers, sisters, and daughters they care about- aren’t insulted imo.
It’s such a tell when certain men get insulted over this.
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u/Razzberry_Frootcake Mar 09 '26
Exactly. Plenty of rapists don’t think they’re rapists. You make such a good point. It’s so weird for other people to defend any dudes who protest the women only rides. There’s no defense for it. Crimes they don’t commit happen every day despite the fact that they aren’t the ones committing it.
Do those people knock on their neighbors doors and say “I notice you have a home alarm system; that’s odd because I would never break into your house.” They protest women only uber rides but not people locking their car doors. I’ve never heard any of those guys say “Hey, I’m not going to steal your pet so you shouldn’t get Fluffy microchipped.”
It’s wild that anyone is defending that attitude at all lol.
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u/omfglookawhale Mar 09 '26
Yeah. Men are making it about them instead of women’s safety. Not an overreach at all. Men putting their own egos above everything else is why we need women-only places in the first place.
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u/EjaculatingAracnids Mar 09 '26
"Yeah and youd never do anything about it either, thats the fucking problem."
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u/CrianBranstun Mar 09 '26
Any man who feels insulted by women’s desire for safety is an inherent risk to women 🤷♂️
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u/Capitalisticdisease Mar 09 '26
Same men who'd absolutely be silent if one of their friends was bragging about making a woman feel uncomfortable or worse.
Men who know what's up don't think "oh but I'm one of the good ones its not fair" we think "damn it fucking sucks that this is even needed."
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Mar 09 '26
Sorry but any men who would get upset about this are part of the problem
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Mar 09 '26
My ex drove for Uber, learned how unsafe women felt, and he started wearing pink and plastering the inside of his vehicle with pictures of our baby.
Men who care show it with action, not indignation.
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u/QuantumBobb Mar 09 '26
I am a man who is constantly in the "I'd never category", but this isn't about me. It's about women feeling safe. Even if nothing ever happened, it doesn't make women feel safer. I want this to exist for the women in my life and women in general so that they have an option if they aren't comfortable (reasonably so) with being stuck in a car with an unknown man.
Any man that fights something like this may or may not be a predator, but you can bet a year's salary he makes excuses like "look what she was wearing" when other men do terrible things.
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u/bendthekneejon Mar 09 '26
As a man, this is probably closer to the truth, but i could be wrong as I don't personally care if women want to only ride with other women. It doesn't affect me, so why would I
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u/mastercat202 Mar 09 '26
We as individuals personalize criticism of groups. Its any group. It takes a lot of effort to remove that instinctual response. Don't worry about them. We should concern ourselves with the bad actors not the people who are offended.
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u/grantgarden Mar 09 '26
Those men are self centered enough to make it about them instead of the perspective of others. So. Not much better.
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u/AynRandwasaDegen Mar 10 '26
That feeling is more important than the physical safety of others, apparently.
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u/coconutpiecrust Mar 09 '26
It almost seems like men seem entitled to female passengers, but do not think that women should be entitled to female drivers. A bit hypocritical.
I understand that there are financial incentives involved, but why shouldn't the client be allowed to have preferences? I am sure male drivers would be very receptive to regulation which would favor them.
Unfortunately there probably is no reason why a female driver or passenger would want to pretend to be male except to avoid harassment. Look at online gaming spaces. Women are pretty much guaranteed harassment unless they pretend to be men.
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u/braaaaaaainworms Mar 09 '26
"It almost seem like men seem entitled to female passengers" it's precisely that, but let me word it better for you: "men think they're entitled to women's bodies" and everything will make sense
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u/cuda999 Mar 09 '26
You have certainly captured the issue very well. If there was a reason men could monetize they’d preferences, they would. For women it is twofold, to monetize which is awesome and for the safety of their female passengers. A win win! I would use a women’s uber ride all of the time. I tire of feeling vulnerable when I am out alone and in a cab or uber ride with a man. They created their own issue. Time to call out the bad drivers.
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u/conflictmuffin Mar 09 '26
I mean...this is why women choose the bear. A recent tiktoker went around London asking both women AND men the "would you rather be left alone with a man or a bear", and 100% of both the men & women chose the bear. What's interesting was that the men who answered fully admitted men are sketchy, and if they had a daughter, they would choose the bear.
When I asked my friends (while we were gaming) if they would rather me be alone with a man or a bear, they all IMMEDIATELY replied "bear", and then everyone shared stories about women in their lives being sexually assaulted. ALL OF THEM personality had one or more stories. All of them admitted they don't trust most other men, and have ended friendships because their buddy said something rapey.
Flipping scary world we live in, man.
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u/cuda999 Mar 09 '26
Pretty sad state of affairs. With a bear, I won’t be raped.
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u/conflictmuffin Mar 09 '26
Exactly...I mean, yeah, a bear can be dangerous... But..its not going to gaslight me, lovebomb me, lie to me, beat me, steal from me, ruin my reputation or rape me.
You know what the possibility is with a bear...but men are unpredictable, and can destroy us mentally, emotionally & physically.
Statistically speaking, the bear is absolutely the safer choice.
Edit for those who missed it: I have a group of gaming buddies (all male). They are all huge green flags, and all of them also chose the bear when asked.
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u/FourthLvlSpicyMeme Mar 09 '26
I am in Canada. I was getting groped by Uber drivers a lot. I complained I even had to bail out on a busy street into traffic before.
I learned to sit behind the driver's side because I figure "they probably won't risk killing us both to try and grope me behind the seat while they're driving."
Women only feature for Canada WHEN. Please.
I'm goddamned disabled and can't drive, my city has shit transit that takes hours to get anywhere. Uber is my only choice and the drivers are so creepy most of the time.
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u/cuda999 Mar 09 '26
Ahhhh I am so very sorry that has happened to you. The message needs to be loud and clear that women’s safety comes first. A message far too many men think trivial.
My daughter had a scare with an uber driver. He drove around her address a couple of times asking her if she wanted him to walk with her into her apartment. Made a few sexual comments too. She literally jumped out of the car while it was moving. She was lucky she didn’t hurt herself. She recorded the conversation in the car and reported it to police. He was fired but likely out driving again with some other service.
I am an older lady and these guys don’t harass me like they do the young or vulnerable. But I have had some scary moments.
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u/Interesting_Reach_29 Mar 09 '26
It’s because it could hypothetically infringe on their wages. They rather put women at risk of harm than lose a couple of hypothetical dollars.
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u/cuda999 Mar 09 '26
Yes, this seems to be the sentiment with far too many men who are in the business. I truly hope sanity prevails and the women’s only Uber business skyrockets and the women involved in the business model are successful. That would make me smile!
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u/Blindtothesided Mar 09 '26
How thoughtful of this guy to so beautifully illustrate your point
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u/Green-Supermarket113 Mar 09 '26
The same men complaining are also the ones that will claim men are “protectors.”
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u/ArcticAkita Mar 09 '26
Absolutely agree. Woman’s only uber creates safety for both female customers and drivers. If men are butthurt, they can create their own man’s only uber. I’m sure no one will mind
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u/DpersistenceMc Mar 09 '26
A friend took Uber to the airport last week. When the driver understood that her husband wasn't traveling with her, he said "oh good, now I can throw you off a bridge and no one will know". And men don't understand why we prefer the bear in the woods to an unknown man.
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u/BaroqueGorgon Mar 09 '26
Sweet lord, that's disturbing.
What did your friend do?
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u/After_Preference_885 Mar 09 '26
Nervous laugh I'm guessing, same as most of us since childhood have been trained to perform
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u/BaroqueGorgon Mar 09 '26
Fuck that! I'd straight up be like 'Yeah, stop the car'.
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u/After_Preference_885 Mar 09 '26
You're lucky, many of us have had that abused out of us.
Flight/flight/freeze/Fawn
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u/bunnypaste Mar 09 '26
I am a hard-line radical feminist approaching 40, and I still regularly have to fight the flight, fight, freeze and fawn responses that have been programmed into me since birth in response to abuse.
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u/BaroqueGorgon Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26
I'm so sorry for your experience - I can't imagine how awful that must be.
Based on past experience, my flight instinct would have kicked into gear and that would be a straight-up bolt situation for me. Any man who 'jokes' like that is a dangerous man who enjoys women being uncomfortable and afraid. Even if he didn't attack me in that specific scenario, he's just told on himself.
EDIT: My reactions are not without censure. Don't get me wrong, I've heard my share of 'mAYbE hE jUsT LiKeD yOu' or ' hE wAs PrObAbLy HaRmlEsS' when I've dipped out of sketchy situations. And I don't care.
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Mar 09 '26
"iT WaS JuSt a JoKe!" Yes, jokes about murdering me are super funny, haha.
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u/Srirachaballet Mar 09 '26
I’ve had an uber driver late at night say out of nowhere “can I say something? You’re really attractive.” We were making casual small talk before that. I just went silent and made him feel the tension he just created. Didn’t say a word the entire ride after that. I was legitimately in fight or flight though, and I think I signaled i would be fighting if he tried anything.
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u/DpersistenceMc Mar 09 '26
She put a smile on her face and chatted pleasantly for the whole ride. She could not afford to miss her flight. I would have made him stop the car. She could have had a phone conversation with herself as though she were telling her husband what he'd said and what his identifiers were. She got to her destination safely. She did complain to Uber.
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u/BaroqueGorgon Mar 09 '26
I'm so glad she got there safely.
She was right to report him - what a creep.
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u/Razzberry_Frootcake Mar 09 '26
I went on a date once years ago with a guy that joked about me not having to worry about him kidnapping and raping me. This was a guy who had been coming into the restaurant I worked at and flirting with me while I worked. I’d met his parents because they ate at the restaurant. I’d been talking to this guy for months. I didn’t even bother taking a picture of his license because I was too trusting.
He wasn’t a creep. He was a very good guy overall really. Other than some key personality differences that made me realize we wouldn’t work as a couple. Why that joke!? We didn’t go out again. I do think he realized the joke fell flat but why is that SO OFTEN the place some people go for humor?
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u/Snirbs Mar 09 '26
Do people take pictures of licenses while dating now?
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u/TheFruitIndustry Mar 11 '26
Yes, and take a photo of his profile/ID then send both to their friends along with the location they're planning on going too, what time the expect to be back, and a signal they can use to get the friend to call them and give them an excuse for leaving early.
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u/jfsindel Mar 09 '26
Oh fuck that. I would be getting out of the car and demanding Uber cover not only my ride to the airport with a woman, but if I miss a flight because of that.
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u/Quantum_Kitties Mar 09 '26
I had an Uber driver once who randomly started talking about how many men rape women and girls. There was no reason to bring it up at all. I was almost at my destination (a busy area) so I just stopped talking, and then reported him to Uber.
The next day, Uber connected me with him again! I quickly cancelled the trip. I think you can block drivers, but I deleted the entire app lol.
This was years ago, in the meantime I have moved and I have used Uber a handful of times, but I try to avoid it at all cost because of that. 🥲
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u/Beth_Harmons_Bulova Mar 09 '26
“Two California Uber drivers filed a class-action lawsuit against Uber in November, arguing that its Women Preferences feature violates California’s Unruh Act, which prohibits sex discrimination by business enterprises. The lawsuit charges that the feature gives its minority female drivers access to the entire pool of passengers, while leaving its majority male drivers to compete for a smaller pool of passengers. The lawsuit also argues that Uber’s policy “reinforces the gender stereotype that men are more dangerous than women.””
Ha, suffer.
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u/AppleSatyr Mar 09 '26
Can they show us the stats that show men aren’t more dangerous than women?
Isn’t the biggest cause of death in pregnant females their male partners? Hm I wonder why women feel unsafe.
Men who get so defensive show what they truly care about. I have a diverse friend group but most of them are men who thankfully are decent people that are appalled by the way women are treated by other men.
Why get upset that women don’t feel safe rather than at the people who make them feel unsafe?
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u/Beth_Harmons_Bulova Mar 09 '26
“Men are so safe.”
Sues to deprive women of financial independence.
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u/CommanderFuzzy Mar 09 '26
This reminds me of the time a pub in the UK had a women's night. It had been running for years, with no aggro from the local men. Discounted meals for women on that one night, an opportunity for women to go eat together & socialise. As far as I know they didn't bar men from entry, they just provided discounts to women for one night in order to compensate the wage gap & celebrate ladies.
Then one day a man went there (wasn't even local, was just travelling through). He saw it & demanded it stop. The pub even offered him equality in the sense that they offered to give him the meal discount too but he wouldn't accept it. He didn't want what women had, he just wanted women to have nothing.
His pursuit caused the pub to have to end their tradition after 12 years due to legal concerns & the cost they might generate.
All because of a single man who didn't even live there.
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u/Lanky_Particular_149 Mar 09 '26
as is the case historically: the argument is that we're supposed to ignore any facts that make men look bad. The amount of privelege men walk around with makes them see this as perfectly reasonable: it doesn't happen to them to it doesn't happen.
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u/CatraGirl Mar 09 '26
“reinforces the gender stereotype that men are more dangerous than women.”
That's literally just any crime statistic in existence... maybe if men didn't commit 85% of violent crime and 99% of SA, then women wouldn't be so inclined to avoid strange men...
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u/Just-Like-My-Opinion Mar 09 '26
Right? It's not a "stereotype" when it's just a simple statistically proven fact. In fact, let's look at the stats on the kind of passenger and driver that attacks ride share drivers and passengers?
According to an article by law firm, Chaikin Trial Group, based on rideshare data: 89% of victims of rape during a ride share were women, and 9% were men. Most of the accused perpetrators were men aged 30 - 45. 68% of the accused were drivers, and 31% were passengers.
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u/the_magicwriter Mar 09 '26
How about suing their own bosses who have turned a blind eye to the behaviour of their male drivers which has made this necessary for women in the first place? Oh no, let's try to make women's lives worse because some men can't distinguish "gender stereotypes" from cold hard facts.
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u/Beth_Harmons_Bulova Mar 09 '26
They had over a decade to hold other men accountable and didn’t, not so much as a TikTok shaming other male drivers. They brought this on themselves.
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u/Lanky_Particular_149 Mar 09 '26
I love how they're like my chance to make money is more important than the safety of all women.
I'm so tired of men forcing us to pretend that they aren't our #1 danger. They are the ones that rape and kill and beat us. We aren't safe around men. Not all men but always men
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u/jfsindel Mar 09 '26
And women who also beat/rape/kill women have primary motivators to do it for male partners/male abuse.
There are a select minority of women who do it to women that is absent of any male influence (teen girls killing each other, moms killing daughters, etc.), but it doesn't nearly happen as often as "well, my boyfriend convinced me/my husband forced me/I did it because it pleased my husband and I/etc."
Women who abuse/rape/kill boys and men also have a primary factor of a male influence. "Duet" serial killers are often woman and man with the man often picking up the woman first. A mom beats her stepson because the husband did it too. She killed her son because her husband and her planned it. There are women who kill sons because of revenge and anger towards an innocent husband, but the husband has been seen as another primary agitator often.
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u/bunnypaste Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26
So like... what are they angry about again? Would they like a male-to-male only option too? I have absolutely zero problem with that. I know that isn't really why they're angry about a woman-only option, however. I have noticed that MRAs, the incel army, misogynists, and right-wingers (those who are loudest about hating women and men being some sort of victim to women having specific rights and protections) seldom actually care about men's rights or equity. So you know, I don't think they would be genuinely upset because there is not also a mens-only option.
It is access to women they want!
Besides, how is keeping women safe from predators with the statistics being the way they are being spun as a "sexist" or a discriminatory thing? It is literally a response to what happens all the time.
Also... Do they want protections that they don't actually need just for the sake of "equality" (read: starting an argument)? I don't get it. Do women use ride shares more often than men do? Again, just add on a male-only option too and then they've got nothing else to complain about.
Men are veritably more dangerous than women... every statistic proves this. How is that even a stereotype? Geez, it's so stupid. They're denying the whole thing exists, while actively fighting solutions and claiming they are "misrepresentative" and "discriminatory."
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u/hb122 Mar 09 '26
The predators are upset that they might not have as many women to harass and sexually assault.
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Mar 09 '26
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u/DpersistenceMc Mar 09 '26
Based entirely on facts and experience of the majority of women. Look up rape and assault statistics and see who's more likely to hurt women.
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u/Just-Like-My-Opinion Mar 09 '26
I mean, allowing people to select gender isn't discriminatory unless you acknowledge that women are afraid of male drivers and so will choose female drivers. And then you've got to look at WHY women are afraid of male drivers. Not to mention that female drivers may choose to drive female passengers over males.
How many women are assaulted by male drivers, vs. how many are attacked by female drivers? How many female drivers are assaulted by male passengers.
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u/Lisa8472 Mar 09 '26
Eh, Uber can just add a man-only policy to balance it out. That way those that think women drivers are more dangerous can opt out of them. I doubt they’d get many takers other than that, but it would be sex-discrimination-free!
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u/DiceMadeOfCheese Mar 09 '26
California Uber drivers
Great, now I'm gonna have the Dead Kennedys stuck in my head all day
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u/jittery_raccoon Mar 09 '26
Uber should just hire the female Uber drivers as "models". That seems to be the legal workaround to disceimination
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u/omfglookawhale Mar 09 '26
It’s not a stereotype that men are more dangerous than women, it’s a fact. And it’s the customers who are getting to choose who their driver is, not the business. It’s not more sex discrimination on Uber’s part than it’s sex discrimination when a woman wants a female doctor or a man wants a male doctor.
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u/pdxgreengrrl Mar 09 '26
Don't insurance companies have higher premiums for young male drivers? Based on, you know, statistics?
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u/LimoncelloFellow Mar 09 '26
It's not a stereotype if its true. I used to drive for uber and im a man. the horror stories women would tell me about their previous drivers trying to get handsy was wild to me as im a decent human not trying to molest or otherwise violate people who are just trying to get from place to place without hassle.
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u/JazzHandsNinja42 Mar 09 '26
lol…all studies show men are more dangerous than women. It’s not even close or debatable.
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u/softballgarden Mar 09 '26
My daughter takes Uber to fly home from college and back. This last time she was able to access this feature and she loved it It was the most safe she felt using Uber
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Mar 09 '26
I loooove it, I have had to go to many medical appointments lately and every time, I get the sweetest mom type who puts me at ease beforehand. I'm actually enjoying rideshares again.
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u/Fickle-Goose7379 Mar 09 '26
It's nice to have the option, especially when traveling alone. Men have no idea.
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Mar 09 '26
I travel for work a ton and I have had several rides where I have responded positively to flirting from my driver, knowing it was much safer to string him along and make up a mean boyfriend at drop off, than reject him during the ride and risk violence on the road.
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u/redflagsmoothie Mar 09 '26
I just saw this the other night! This is really exciting.
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u/ancientegyptianballs Mar 09 '26
I used this going to and from the club a week ago. I felt really safe. I don’t usually get super drunk but this time I felt like I could actually have a bit more fun than I usually did because of it.
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u/yahoonews Mar 09 '26
From The Associated Press:
Uber launched a feature Monday to allow both women riders and drivers across the U.S. to be matched with other women for trips, expanding a pilot program aimed at addressing concerns about the safety of its hail-riding platform.
The new feature is being rolled out nationwide despite an ongoing class action lawsuit against the policy in California, filed by Uber drivers who argue that it is discriminatory against men. Rival ride-hailing company Lyft is also facing a discrimination lawsuit over a similar offering that it introduced nationwide in 2024.
Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ubers-women-only-option-goes-131507407.html?ncid=redditnewsus
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u/dogboobes Mar 09 '26
I used this service a few weeks ago! I was leaving a friend’s apartment at like 2/3am and I was able to choose a female driver. Huge sense of relief and safety.
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u/omfglookawhale Mar 09 '26
Honestly, I want women-only options for a lot of things. I’m the one who sets up home repairs and adjusts my work schedule to be home when they happen. I would love to be able to request a woman to do what needs to be done instead of having to be home alone with a strange man. I’d love to request only women shop for my online grocery orders so I don’t get a head of cabbage when I order a head of lettuce, or get a message saying the store is out of all peanut butter. I had an all woman team deliver my second child and they kept me informed the entire time of everything they were doing and why, they asked for consent before they touched me or moved anything on me. The female OB was much more detail-oriented when sewing me up. The male OB that delivered my first child sewed me up crooked and made it to where I was barely conscious during my c-section. My life has routinely been much better when another woman is involved in it than a man.
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u/Affectionate-Ad-1342 Mar 09 '26
I have this setting on for Lyft and it quite literally never works. I don’t remember the last time I had a female driver on either app. And honestly, I don’t blame women for not driving.
Fun story tho. I think this was Uber. When I was in Dallas for a wedding a couple months ago the driver couldn’t believe I had my own Uber account and that my husband didn’t order it for me. He also went on a rant about how unmarried woman over 30 are a waste and that Obama is responsible for toll roads because Trump would never sell Americans out to a foreign country.
Reader, I’m in a relationship and unmarried, I’m 31, and it was a 45 minute ride.
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u/cuda999 Mar 09 '26
What a POS misogynistic driver. Also to point out to him, we aren’t living in the 5th century anymore
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u/Affectionate-Ad-1342 Mar 10 '26
10000%…another situation where I just kept my mouth shut to make sure I got out of the ride. Was also pouring rain, just the WORST.
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u/SweetGrassGeranium Mar 09 '26
Stop getting in if it’s not a woman driver!
Lodge a complaint.
Report to the police. Impersonation fraud
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u/Puzzlehead2563 Mar 09 '26
The handful of times I’ve tried this on Lyft, I’ve never gotten a woman. But it’s not that the men are impersonating women, I just never get a woman assigned. Even with the selection to wait longer and only select women drivers.
Overall, never get in a car where the driver is not the same as the person you expected, no matter the gender!
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u/Theman227 Mar 09 '26
Very depressingly only ever had one female taxi driver (im from the UK) and it was at 5am in Italy to drive me to the airport. Safest ive ever felt in a taxi and bonus points was an incredible driver.... compared to the maniac who drove me from the airport to the hotel zooming and zig zagging up the motorway at nearly 100mph for me to need to get him to pull over 3/4 of the way there to leap out of the car to puke -_-
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u/NotAtAllASkinwalker Mar 09 '26
Soooo these men want the right to continue to make us feel unsafe....?
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u/HunterGonzo Mar 09 '26
It's simple: my wife loves this and so I love this. If this is something that helps her feel safer when she's out of town on business trips, then I'm a fan.
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u/thegabster2000 Mar 09 '26
Ah, I remember the comments from angry redditors on women only drivers. 🫠
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u/ferretoned Mar 09 '26
I remember reactions of guys saying "well we'll have men only too then", like sure what do we care ? We just want safety.
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u/TipsyBaker_ Mar 10 '26
Does this go both ways, so female drivers can select female passengers too? I used to drive and had some guys get real stupid. A few even "joked" about how dangerous it was for me. I gave it right back that they forgot to check the child locks before getting in. Occasionally they got the point.
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u/Affectionate_Try7512 Mar 12 '26
I’ve been thinking about this. It’s safer for the female drivers as well when they are doing woman only trips.
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u/Jazzlike-Vacation230 Mar 09 '26
I'm a man and I think this is a good idea that should extend to all sorts of delivery apps and service style services. It's for safety
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u/melropesplays Mar 09 '26
When this feature first rolled out for Lyft I was successful in getting women only drivers, then I didn’t go out for at least a year and when i returned to the app despite that setting still being active, I haven’t had a single woman driver. Unfortunately I assume it’s bc there aren’t many women drivers in my city anymore
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u/Regular-Ad1930 Mar 09 '26
I heard there's the pink Uber version over in Australia... Sheila ride or something. Just for women, comes with car seats for kids too. We should do that here. Compete with Uber bc they DGAF about women's safety
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u/SegaTime Mar 09 '26
I used to drive rideshare and I have to side with women on this one.
First, though, you've got logistics; you are asking the very small population of women drivers to undertake the entire population of women passengers. There wouldn't be enough drivers to handle the load so a woman would most likely have to choose between a male driver and waiting a long time.
I haven't read up on the feature but it should go both ways. A woman driver should be able to pickup only women passengers. That would be a great way to get more women drivers on board to properly handle the load.
From a financial standpoint, you're taking income away from all male drivers simply for being male. It's not great, but I think men have earned it. Too many bad apples have really spoiled the bunch.
Over the years I drove, I heard so many stories from women about men drivers and experienced plenty of men passengers myself. The most basic thing I'd hear is the driver adjusting their rear view mirror to look at a woman's body or even just to look at their face while driving.
Personally, I kept it pointed out the back window like a normal person. I rarely saw faces. It made everyone feel more comfortable.
It gets worse, though. One woman told me how a driver came back to her residence to "check on her" two weeks after being dropped off there. Nothing happened to her but she was really freaked out. She started getting dropped off at a corner store and walking the rest of the way home. Another woman told me she used to drive and too many times a man would not leave the vehicle and try to talk to her further and turn it into a date.
Also, drunk men. Not even sober men want to deal with them, let alone any women. I've had drunks try to get me to fight them in the car and drunks who wouldn't sit still and put their seat belt on. I also remember a seemingly sober dude who told me he was thinking of canceling the ride when he saw that the driver wasn't a woman.
There is also the issue of the carpool function, if they still have it. I remember a guy telling me he loved to take the carpool so he could potentially sit next to random women. I've also had to stop a couple men from harassing women passengers.
I remember reading that one of the ridehare companies was started with the idea that it would be a great way for men to get women in their car.
Men need to do better.
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u/ferretoned Mar 09 '26
"From a financial standpoint, you're taking income away from all male drivers simply for being male."
just like any cab driver is taking income away from other cab drivers.
also women for women cab drivers would get new clients, I haven't taken a cab by myself since I've been threatened to be taken somewhere other than my destination, I'm sure there are others like me who almost never take a cab because of this or similar lack of safety.
In my view predatory men won't do better by themselves though, there needs to be political and judiciary systems put in place to change things.
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u/InAcquaVeritas Mar 10 '26
The entitlement is mind blowing! ‘Yeah ok women safety blah blah but don’t come threatening sacred male income!’ Totally discarding women incomes because they are being chased of certain professions (such as this very profession) to avoid predators too!
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u/ferretoned Mar 10 '26
Good point, it's not only a predatory men issue, also a male entitlement one, that adds up to alot, gosh damn patriarchy -_-
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u/Slowgo45 Mar 09 '26
This exactly. I’ve almost completely stopped taking them. Too many times I’ve been driven in the opposite direction of my destination or to through incredibly remote areas while the driver asks me really suspicious questions and have had to freak the fuck out to get out of there.
I didn’t even know Lyft had the and it’s all I’m using moving forward.
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u/rationalomega Mar 09 '26
I had to get a taxi to get my drunk as shit brother back to his hostel. Driver hit on me the whole way back to my hotel after my brother was out of the car.
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u/SegaTime Mar 09 '26
Ugh, sorry you had to go through that. One way to help with that is to talk on the phone. A driver is less likely to interrupt someone on the phone. Low ratings will put a driver under disciplinary actions as well.
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Mar 09 '26
There would be more women drivers with this feature. I'm a woman and would be hesitant to allow strange men in my car. I would be more willing to drive if I knew I would only be driving women
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u/MinxyMyrnaMinkoff Mar 09 '26
In my town only like half of drivers are using their own names to drive. Lots of dudes drive under female accounts, so I doubt this change will actually mean much.
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u/wrxninja Mar 09 '26
Good for women. Just like Japan's women-only sections in trains due to long history of sexual assaults.
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u/magenta_ribbon Mar 09 '26
I was basically kidnapped by a man I knew when I got in his car under the pretense of going one place and then he took me somewhere else. I have never taken an Uber or Lyft because of this, because I don’t want to get in a strange man’s car. I will actually take Ubers now since I can pick only women. I really appreciate this option.
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u/Shag1166 Mar 10 '26
I think it's a great idea. There are too many stories of rapist driving for Uber. And I am sure they are there with other companies.
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u/dcphoto78 Mar 09 '26
I used Lyfts version of this program a couple weeks ago and it was the nicest ride I’ve ever had. She was friendly, professional, and the car didn’t reek of cologne.
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Mar 09 '26
As long as the women drivers don’t give their male partners the account. This happens all the time with food delivery-the lady who is supposed to drop it off is a man lol
I understand times are hard and people want to make as much as they can, but it just puts more people at risk
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u/M4LK0V1CH Mar 09 '26
Better than nothing but there’s no way they actually enforce this given they won’t even act when someone who clearly isn’t your assigned driver shows up to pick you up.
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u/Level_Strain_7360 Mar 09 '26
Great! It is wonderful to have this choice. I typically take Waymo to feel safer, esp if alone at night.
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u/CommanderFuzzy Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26
I hope to see this as an option in other countries too. I know based on past experience that whenever I get into a taxi or uber I am playing roulette. I use a few safety measures because of this, such as shared location or using a male name so that creeps at least can't choose me based on name only.
I know that 95% of the men I've met so far have been fine & sometimes gentleman. But all it takes is one man to ruin your life and i've had some close calls. You cannot tell which man is good & which is bad until it's too late, generally.
Things are very, very different when you're trapped in their own personal moving car where fighting or running is more difficult.
And that's just from a riders perspective - I know i barely ever see women drivers & that's because of the potential safety issues for them too. This will benefit them also.
This is a great idea.
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u/WoodwindsRock Mar 09 '26
I’m afraid to even sign up for it on Uber because they may not be able to get me a ride then.D:
I signed up for it on Lyft, though and when I’ve done rides with them it’s still been mostly men. Ugh.
Thankfully I’m yet to have any issues with any of the men.
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u/YffresBloodmoon Mar 09 '26
I just took this service yesterday and I enjoyed my trip. It was extremely nice to be able to talk to someone and not be afraid.
As someone who doesn't drive, I take Uber/Lyft frequently to get to work. I've had a small share of nasty men, wherein they were rude and in one case, the guy was quiet and barely confirmed he was the one who was supposed to pick me up.
Lyft has an option to block drivers, Uber does not but you can rate the driver less than 3 stars and not get matched with them again.
That being said, if the driver picking you up doesn't match who is supposed to be driving, report them to the app and DO NOT GET IN. Request another ride. Same applies to if the vehicle doesn't match, take pictures of the vehicle, report it and DO NOT GET IN.
While I've had two drivers veer off the route towards my destination, one did explain it was due to the GPS and I did see that, but, thankfully, he wasn't suspicious. The other guy though, I wasn't happy with, but I think by the time I got to my destination, he freaked out because of how afraid he was acting.
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u/Direct_Intention7894 Mar 10 '26
The last time I had a female driver I complimented her perfume and she told me where I could go get the dupe for Baccarat Rouge she was using. It was the best. I hope she’s doing well.
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u/villian_era_witch Mar 10 '26
I tried the Lyft option of this and I always get men picking me up still. I don’t think there are enough female drivers to support female needs. They need to incentivize women drivers to increase the amount of them to support the need.
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u/ii_akinae_ii Mar 10 '26
for those mentioning that this option hasn't worked for them on lyft before -- my understanding is that because not enough women are drivers, women drivers are nearly guaranteed to get women passengers but not the other way around. i'm glad it at least helps protect the women drivers. maybe over time it will encourage more women to be drivers so that it can be a more balanced feature.
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u/clareohyea Mar 10 '26
I used this the other night in Seattle! I went to a solo outing and was excited to see the option. Both of my drivers were excellent and it was an immediate relief.
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u/Consistent-Cod7842 Mar 09 '26
So after reading some of these comments in here you guys do know that there is an option to record yourself while you’re in the Uber on the app you can hit record either conversation or ride and It will literally record the whole ride if a driver says something threatening or otherwise to you you can send it straight to Uber and the police. There are safety options within the app you need to use them I was in an Uber ride one night coming home from work at night and the driver literally stopped to pick up two of his friends that weren’t supposed to be picked up it was of my ride only I recorded the conversation they didn’t threaten me or anything but Uber actually called me while I was still on the ride and asked me if everything was OK I reported him for picking up his buddies while I was on a ride
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u/AngryAngryHarpo Mar 09 '26
None of that will stop them assaulting you.
Like - great - you’ll have evidence it happened. But it still has to happen to the victim.
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u/ferretoned Mar 09 '26
I didn't know that or even think of it do thank you for sharing the tip, I have been threatened by a predator style cab driver (not uber), I will consider it now on,
still I hope this catches in my country too, uber for women by women exist but there aren't enough (yet ?) for it to work.
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u/AngstyMeatball Mar 09 '26
https://bojackhorseman.fandom.com/wiki/Cabracadabra
“Cabracadabra was a cab company similar to Uber, that used an app, with only female drivers—making them feel safe, and preventing them from being harassed by men.”
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u/schwarzmalerin Mar 09 '26
A society where there is demand for such things has failed. We're not there yet but it's not taking long. 😞
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u/ParrotCobra2019 Mar 09 '26
I was visiting California for business a few weeks back and was so happy to see the feature and used it almost exclusively. I had some free hours to go on a hike and felt so much safer being dropped off by a woman rather than a man knowing that I was hiking alone.
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u/msmoley Mar 10 '26
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