Author: Maya Salam / Source: New York Times
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“It has to be automatic, like putting on a seatbelt. You have to ask, ‘What’s my name?’”
Marci Josephson, whose daughter Samantha was found murdered hours after she got into a car that she mistook for her Uber
That hashtag has been gaining ground on Twitter, part of a safety campaign started by University of South Carolina students, who are grappling with the murder of a fellow student.
They’re imploring riders of Uber and Lyft to ask their drivers, “What’s my name?” before getting into a vehicle.The effort is in response to the death of Samantha Josephson, 21, who apparently got into a car she believed was her Uber in a busy downtown area of Columbia, S.C., late last month. Her body was found in the woods 70 miles away, and a 24-year-old man was quickly arrested on charges of kidnapping and murder.
On Monday, Josephson’s parents introduced the website Whatsmyname.org to “educate the world on ride-share safety and the simple precautions one can take to ensure no other family has to suffer this unspeakable tragedy.”
A week after the attack, three women who say they were raped by men posing as Uber drivers filed a lawsuit against the ride-hailing app, claiming that Uber knew fake drivers were targeting women but did not warn its customers.
[READ MORE: They Thought It Was Their Uber. But the Driver Was a Predator.]
Across the country, at least two dozen women have been attacked in recent years after making a mistake similar to Josephson’s. (In Connecticut, a man was recently arraigned on charges that he kidnapped and raped two women who thought he was their driver. In Chicago, prosecutors said a man who posed as an Uber driver sexually assaulted five women.) And a 2018 CNN report found that 103 Uber drivers and 18 Lyft drivers had been accused of sexual assault or abuse.
Uber and Lyft have been criticized for not sufficiently evaluating their drivers and not prioritizing passenger safety, prompting some cities to place temporary bans or restrictions on…
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