Lyft recorded more than 4,000 sexual assault cases since 2017

Lyft recorded 4,158 sexual assault cases from 2017 to 2019, according to the company's first safety report. The company said there were 1,096 reports of sexual assaults in 2017, 1,255 in 2018, and 1,807 in 2019.

The report, which was released Thursday, found that more than 360 rapes were reported over the three-year span. The highest number of assaults were labeled as non-consensual touching of a sexual body part, with 598 reports in 2017, 661 in 2018, and 1,041 in 2019.

Lyft said it does not report alleged sexual assaults to police, leaving the decision to alleged victims who file the reports. The company does offer support such as " counseling, emotional support and crisis intervention."

"Generally speaking, individuals who are accused of committing the types of incidents detailed in this report will be permanently removed from the Lyft community, preventing them from riding or driving in the future," the company wrote.

Lyft said it collected the data from direct reports, social media, police statements and local media reports, but admitted the data points could not be perfect as sexual assault is "chronically underreported" across the country.

The safety report also said 10 people died from physical assaults and another 105 died from motor vehicle accidents.

The report comes two years after Uber revealed their own sexual assault data. The company said it received 5,981 reports of varied kinds of sexual assault in the years 2017 and 2018.

"To provide a clear and straightforward representation, we have relied on data," the report reads. "But behind every number, there is a person who experienced that incident. Put simply, even one of these incidents is too many. That is what drives our relentless work to continuously improve safety for riders and drivers."

Lyft has recently added new features to its app in an effort to keep riders and drivers safe. In 2019, the company began hiding the contact information of both drivers and riders, added check-ins for users during trips, and has partnered with the security company ADT to provide riders with immediate aid during an emergency.

"Safety is fundamental to Lyft. That means creating features and policies to give riders and drivers peace of mind, and being clear about what happens on our platform," said John Zimmer, the company's president and co-founder.

"Our report is just that: a look at where our company has been and where we're heading, in order to help everyone have a safe ride from beginning to end."

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