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Rideshare Boycott Sparked By Murders In China (theatlantic.com)
Following a string of murders by drivers of China's top ridesharing app, Didi Chuxing, users are deleting the app in large numbers and calling for others to boycott the service. According to The Atlantic, "the hashtag #BoycottDidi on Weibo has garnered more than 1 million views." From the report: Over the weekend, the driver confessed to local police to raping and stabbing his 20-year-old passenger on her way to a friend's birthday party. The murder is the second in three months -- this May, a young flight attendant was killed by her Didi driver. It is the third in a year -- last May, according to Caixin Global, another woman was strangled and killed by her driver. And it is the fourth in two years -- the year before that, a female teacher was robbed and killed after threats from her driver.
"As a platform, we have disappointed the public's trust in us and cannot shirk this responsibility," Didi said in a statement, admitting to failing to react quickly to another passenger's complaint filed against the driver the day before the murder. The rideshare company has suspended its Hitch services (as it did after the last murder) and fired two senior executives, one in charge of Hitch, its intercity carpooling service, and the other in charge of customer service. The Didi president, Jean Liu, oft-regarded as a hero for Chinese women in business, issued an apology on Tuesday. China's government is now cracking down on reform across the transportation sector.
"As a platform, we have disappointed the public's trust in us and cannot shirk this responsibility," Didi said in a statement, admitting to failing to react quickly to another passenger's complaint filed against the driver the day before the murder. The rideshare company has suspended its Hitch services (as it did after the last murder) and fired two senior executives, one in charge of Hitch, its intercity carpooling service, and the other in charge of customer service. The Didi president, Jean Liu, oft-regarded as a hero for Chinese women in business, issued an apology on Tuesday. China's government is now cracking down on reform across the transportation sector.
I heard that the problem came down to drivers being allowed to add notes to each customers profile of how attractive they were. Predator drivers would then selectively choose passengers based on their appearance score, and then rape them. After it happened the first few times the company did not make any changes to their app, and I guess it started to become a repeat problem. Something tells me because its China that there are probably a lot more rapes and murders that don't get reported on because of the whole cultural thing of trying to keep up appearances. I don't know how much rape and sexual assault occurs in China, but it must be pretty bad if this started a rebellion against the company because that in itself is pretty rare in a country like China. Usually dissent is not something allowed.
I do see free market forces at work. If this company can't get it's act together and make people feel safe using their services then I can expect them to go out of business. If you want a cheap ride then you can take your chances with a company that doesn't check out their drivers before sending them to pick you up.
I do wonder about these stories ... I mean, murder is obviously already illegal.
Do taxi medallions have some special anti-murder properties, to make regular taxis safer than these services?