Navigate college safely with smart ridesharing practices

    With a greater number of people sharing rides and interacting with strangers than ever before, safety while ridesharing is an issue to take seriously. While ridesharing trips often occur without incident, there have been some instances of violent altercations involving drivers and passengers. For example, in February 2016, a driver from Kalamazoo, Michigan, while working for a popular ridesharing service, admitted to killing six people after going on a shooting rampage.
    According to the Taxicab, Limousine and Paratransit Association, ridesharing companies use a background check service to confirm criminal convictions and to make sure drivers are legally able to drive. However, these services may not perform FBI fingerprinting checks conducted by law enforcement officials, whereas taxi drivers are subjected fingerprinting.
    So some ridesharing drivers who have committed crimes in the past but have never been caught may pass ridesharing background checks, but they might not pass tests that taxi companies would insist they submit to, such as fingerprinting tests.
    While ridesharing, whether it entails carpooling or using an established ridesharing service, can be convenient, passengers must take steps to ensure their own safety when sharing rides.
    —Confirm insurance coverage. All drivers need to be insured in case of an accident. Passengers are well within their rights to request proof of current insurance before agreeing to carpool.

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