Content Warning: This story contains mentions of sexual assault and rape.
A Lyft driver who allegedly raped a USC student in his car outside of her apartment last week has been permanently banned from the ride-share platform, a spokesperson told Annenberg Media.
“Safety is fundamental to Lyft. The behavior described is reprehensible and has no place in the Lyft community or anywhere in society,” said the Lyft spokesperson. “We have permanently banned a suspected driver’s account from the Lyft platform and are actively assisting law enforcement with their investigation.”
Lyft has been in communication with the Los Angeles Police Department and USC’s Department of Public Safety to aid with the investigation, according to the statement.
The incident occurred in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Nov. 1 as a female student was returning to her apartment on the 3600 block of Grand Ave., only about three blocks from USC’s campus. Later that day, DPS sent out a university-wide communication alerting the campus community to the incident.
“A female student took a Lyft ride from a club in West Hollywood to her apartment near the University Park Campus,” read the email. “When they arrived at her apartment, the Lyft driver raped the student in his car.”
According to Lyft’s safety policy, the company conducts background checks before hiring their drivers, and all applicants are screened for previous criminal offenses and driving incidents. Lyft also employs continuous criminal monitoring and driving record checks.
In 2021, Lyft partnered with Uber to launch the Industry Sharing Safety Program, which is meant to provide information about drivers who are deactivated from ride-share and delivery businesses for reasons related to sexual misconduct, assault and aggravation. The program allows for the distribution of information to inform other participating businesses, enabling them to take action.
Per the company’s safety measures, any driver who does not meet the criteria for both annual and continuous screenings is banned from the platform.
Photo courtesy of ajay_suresh / CC BY 2.0