Content Warning: This story contains mentions of sexual assault and rape.
A Lyft driver allegedly raped a USC student in the early hours of Wednesday morning, according to an email from USC’s Department of Public Safety (DPS).
The female student was returning to her apartment near campus from a club in West Hollywood. According to the email, the Lyft driver raped the student in his car when they arrived at her apartment.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said the investigation was ongoing and an arrest had not yet been made.
In a statement to Annenberg Media, Lyft said that its thoughts were with the victim, though it could not confirm the details of the report.
“Based on the information available at this time, we have not identified a report or ride matching the description and can’t confirm it involved the Lyft platform,” the statement continued. “We have reached out to law enforcement and stand ready to assist with their investigation.”
The report left many USC students feeling on edge. Junior international relations and global relations major Kimya Jalinous called the allegation “shocking.”
“I take a lot of Lyft rides by myself and kind of just trust the Lyft system,” said Jalinous. “It was concerning to see I couldn’t trust Lyft to provide a safe ride.”
Some students, such as freshman economics and math major Emily Lai, said they plan to make changes to how they use ride sharing apps such as Lyft.
“Seeing that announcement in my email feed was scary,” said Lai. “I’ll never go out in a Lyft by myself again. I’ll probably bring a friend with me next time.”
According to a 2019 report commissioned by Lyft, there were more than 1,000 sexual assault reports each year between 2017-2019. Uber reported 5,000 sexual assault claims during a two-year period.
Nonprofit Helping Survivors of Sexual Abuse said the number of assaults were due to what the organization described as “lenient” vetting processes for drivers that only include a cursory background check to screen for criminal histories and pending investigations. Neither Lyft nor Uber have announced plans to alter their screening practices.
DPS recommends that while using rideshare services, students should locate safety features on the app, keep their phones accessible at all times and look at the driver to verify their identity. Lyft riders are also able to connect through the app with an ADT security professional, who can discreetly contact the authorities.
Students also can do a live chat with DPS through the LiveSafe app.
Editor’s note: The article previously stated “2,000 sexual assaults are reported” in the 2019 report. This number was corrected to “more than 1,000.”