Uber and Lyft Safety Recalls Raise Concerns

Ridesharing companies, such as Uber and Lyft, are a convenient form of transportation for those who do not have vehicles of their own. However, as useful as both Uber and Lyft are, some of the vehicles used to transport customers may be too dangerous to drive. Ridesharing services are convenient due to the ability for a customer to use an app to request a ride from nearby vehicles. The transaction is supposed to be quick and user friendly.

Requirements for Uber and Lyft Vehicles

To drive for Uber and Lyft, both businesses require that vehicles be legally registered and are no more than 10 to 15 years old. Uber restricts drivers with vehicles deemed unsafe to drive by the manufacturer or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Consumer Reports (CR) focused on the New York City and Seattle areas, where there are thousands of Uber and Lyft vehicles with current recalls and nothing being done to fix them. In New York City, a 2011 Hyundai Sonata GLS was found to have eight unaddressed safety recalls, proving that ridesharing companies are not making customer safety a priority.

Issues Found in Uber and Lyft Vehicles

Some of the issues found in Uber and Lyft vehicles range from seat belt detachment to engine failure. Other issues include cars potentially catching fire and front seat airbags that can severely injure or kill the driver and passenger. In addition to these issues, CR also found that Takata airbags specifically have recalls that are associated with numerous deaths. However, these airbags are still found in over 1,000 vehicles.

CR gathered this information by obtaining VIN numbers from vehicles participating in ridesharing services throughout New York City and King County, Washington. With these VIN numbers, CR was able to gather data on which cars had unaddressed recalls. To increase driver and passenger safety, CR believes that stronger safety recall laws need to be put into effect.

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