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Uber has released its highly-anticipated safety report, which revealed 464 incidents of rape in two years in the United States alone.

In total, there were 5,981 reports of sexual assault in 2017 and 2018,  In 2018, more than 3,000 sexual assaults were reported during its U.S. rides. That figure includes 229 rapes across the company’s 1.3 billion rides.

In 2017, the company counted 2,936 reported sexual assaults during 1 billion U.S. trips. Uber bases its numbers on reports from riders and drivers, meaning the actual numbers could be much higher. Sexual assaults commonly go unreported.

The company noted that drivers and riders were both attacked, and that some assaults occurred between riders. The report, which Uber UBER, touted as the first of its kind, provides a rare look into the traffic deaths, murders and reported sexual assaults that took place during billions of annual rides arranged in the U.S. using Uber’s service.

It is part of the company’s effort to be more transparent after years of criticism over its safety record.

“I suspect many people will be surprised at how rare these incidents are; others will understandably think they’re still too common,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi tweeted about the report.

“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.”

Uber’s share price dropped more than 1% in after-hours trading. Uber and competitor Lyft LYFT, have faced harsh criticism for not doing enough to protect the safety of their riders and drivers. Dozens of women are suing Lyft, claiming the company should have done more to protect them from driver assaults. A Connecticut woman sued Uber last month, claiming she was sexually assaulted by her driver.

 

 

Credit: LIB

Dark-skinned women everywhere are bullied and discriminated against for their dark skin colour. Nyakim Gatwech uses her platform to address and challenge that.

South Sudanese Model Turn Down Money to Bleach Her Skin

 Nyakim Gatwech

An Nisais an online taxi-hailing service in Kenya run by women that serves female passengers and young children only.

Mehnaz Sarwar (Photo: An Nisa)

An Nisa was founded by Mehnaz Sarwar and she inspired by how she and many women who used cabs in Nairobi were uncomfortable getting into vehicles with unfamiliar men. She said:

“I was always uncomfortable being in a car with someone I didn’t know, especially if it was a male. So I was always in search of a female driver. I realized that a lot of ladies are still in that position.”

Mehnaz started An Nisa to cater to women not just as passengers, but also behind the wheel. Susan Cherotich, one of over 50 female drivers who has signed up on the platform, says it is different from other platforms she has worked for:

“It is long overdue. Now that we have our own app, we run it and especially for us, it is more empowering.”

(Photo: An-Nisa)

And it is, because An Nisa only takes a 10% commission, compared to the 15% to 25% taken by other platforms like Uber and Taxify.

Susan adds:

“Now that the commissions are lower, we’ll be able to earn a bit more. And because most of the riders are ladies, should they all embrace this app, we’ll be able to earn more out of it.”

 

(Photo: An Nisa)

 

Credit: konbini.com

’Stupid man, e be like say you don craze for head there!’’

‘’No, na your papa own this road abi. Na why you dey do anyhow. No be your fault. Wakaa!!!’’

These were the likely regular conversations I hear in public transport. I, not being so knowledgeable in driving couldn’t just see the justification in exchanging words on the road. I ask myself, ‘’Where are your manners, oh ye son of man?’’

Well, soon enough, I got to share in these little road dramas as I experienced them in 3D. I mean, I have always itched to drive. The multiple knocks and shouting ontop of my head during the driving lessons from my beloveth elder brother were not discouraging enough to have me back down driving.

You must be thinking driving in Abuja is some easy-peasy akara and bread task. Wrong! You see, this City, Abuja probably has the most notorious and last nerve breaking set of careless motorists. No day passes by without meeting at least one of them on the roads.

So, I’ve decided to group the type of drivers I’ve encountered in Abuja. You can include your experience(s) without limiting to Abuja.

 

  • Double-gamers‘’I’m waking up this morning to annoy impending drivers and ensure they tail behind me,’’ are the likely words they say to themselves with a huge smirk. This driver loves to drive between two lanes so they can easily bend to the favourable lane when need arises. No amount of honks deter this guy from spreading his car wheels between two lanes because he loves to see people riled up.

 

    1.  
    2. I also call them cheats and indecisive motorists.
  • Elephants/Honkers 

 

    1. These are road bullies. They’ll ensure you get confused on the road, ram somehow into the vehicle before you or just fall into a ditch. They can see clearly there’s a traffic light stop or you’re held up by some factors but continue to honk into your ears incessantly as though you love to breathe in Abuja air, watch pedestrians and vehicles pass by.
  • You-must-notice-my-hallogen-lights  

 

    1. *sigh. Kilode, na only you waka come?
    2. I’m still trying to understand why drivers flash their headlamps at other drivers during day or night. These ones will almost blind you at night. To show effectiveness of their headlamps? No? To bring attention to the model of their cars? No? To overtake? Whatever happened to honking once?
  • Smarty Pants 

 

    1. Ah! These ones think other motorists are dumb and unnecessarily slow. They’re brothers to the Elephants. They lack patience to simply follow road instructions. They beat traffic, shont queues and prove rights over obvious road offences. Sometimes, I wish Abuja would incorporate its’ own road enforcement Agencies like LAWMA, LASTMA and the likes. Imagine being unsafe on one-way roads. As a driver, you’ll be forced to look sideways before driving into a one-way road. Yeah, that happens a lot in Abuja.
  • Assumptious Amys   

 

    1.  
    2. NO, SISTER, I DO NOT KNOW THAT. YOUR INDICATORS ARE NOT THERE FOR FANCY! USE THEM!
    3. ‘’Oh! You should know without indications that I’m driving to the left’’.
    4. These kinds assume motorists are mind-readers. They think you’re Gaius who’s capable of foreseeing their next actions on the road. They don’t indicate their directions. They swerve and delve into the roads as they desire.
  • Confused Cornels  

 

    1. Some of them are frustrated from home, work etc., and transfer the frustration on you who had a great day at work, only to get you frustrated as well, then you transfer to someone else. This becomes ‘’cycle of frustration’’. This is the reason FRSC advises to leave the car if one isn’t in the good state of mind. They are closely related to the angry birds. They yell and scream on the roads at the slightest opportunity.
    2. You see, these ones indicate out of the goodness of their hearts. But when indicate wrongly, thereby, misleading the forthcoming vehicles. They indicate and drive the opposite direction. They indicate left but drive to the right. Common!
  • Angry Birds   

 

    1. Sorry, but you’re not Jesus to bow at the mention of your name. Thank you.
    2. They’re easily the ‘’do-you-know-who-I-am’’ drivers who at the slightest road block or car scratch, let you know their status in the society to threaten and make you shiver at the mention of names.
    3. This driver is the offspring of Confused Cornels. They’re naturally aggressive. Abusive words are liberal on their lips. In fact, being sane is much of a luxury to them. They own the road and see it as an inheritance from their fathers. You dare not try to drive between them because it just might land you some hot rounds of insults you never planned to have. They are drama kings and Queens who draw scenes to themselves.
  • Slow and steady      

 

  1. Au re voir!
  2. Have you been involved in any road drama? How well did you handle it? Do remember to include your classification if not encapsulated.
  3. Another lesson is being patient. Patient to give way to the on-coming ‘’superman’’ driver who has probably signed his death wish hours before. The most I do to them is to give some deadly stares to proof a point or mutter silly inaudible words within the confinement of my vehicle. Mans cannot afford to be waylaid on the journey home.
  4. Nonetheless, driving here is somewhat interesting. I get to laugh at two confused adults, who struggle to overtake each other. I have also managed to pick a few lesson from motorists. One of the lesson is the ability to control/restrain myself from dishing insults to in-cautious drivers. After all, we all have our excesses on the road.
  5. I hear the best way to drive is thinking you’re the only sane driver. Perhaps, if everyone had that thought, we’ll all be weary of other insane drivers and mitigate the high rates of road accidents.
  6. They believe slow and steady wins the race. Lewis Hamilton might probably help with that belief.
  7. These ones are sloths in human form. They’re not learners but are extremely slow in driving. They delay other drivers and almost cause a long trail of traffic. Why stay on the fast lane since driving is your leisure or hobby edakun?

By: Oluwaseyi Efuntoye

Email : sefuntoye@gmail.com

Instagram : @seyyi_