A state lawmaker shared her harrowing account of an alleged sexual assault during a Lyft ride. Her personal experience inspired legislation in 2025 to further regulate ride-hailing companies like Lyft and Uber in the state. Other survivors came to the State Capitol to share their stories and support the legislation. That bill did not become law after the governor’s veto. But lawmakers tried again the following year, and parts of the pared-down version take effect this month.
Uber has publicly said the vast majority, 99.9%, of its rides happen without incident. But when taking scale into account, and how many rides occur each day, that fraction of a percent can add up.
Emily Steel, an investigative reporter for the business desk of The New York Times, has covered this issue extensively. Her reporting into Uber revealed that, between 2017 and 2022, the ride-hailing company received a report of sexual assault or misconduct nearly every eight minutes on average.
She joins CPR’s Bente Birkeland to share her reporting, including a recent investigation about how Uber’s legal team is approaching the mounting number of civil suits against the large company.
Dig deeper into the scope of this issue here in Colorado and across the country by reading stories from CPR, CCNA and The New York Times:
- CPR News: Colorado lawmaker trying again for rideshare safety policy after original bill vetoed
- CCNA: New Colorado rideshare safety provisions go into effect this month
- The New York Times: Uber’s Festering Sexual Assault Problem
- The New York Times: Uber’s Strategy for Fighting Sexual Assault Suits: ‘What Were You Wearing?’
- The New York Times: Uber Enacts Stricter Background Checks for Drivers
- The New York Times: Second Jury Finds Uber Responsible for Sexual Assault by a Driver
Purplish is produced by CPR News and the Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS, and The Colorado Sun, and shared with Rocky Mountain Community Radio and other news organizations across the state. Startup funding for the Alliance was provided, in part, by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Purplish’s producer is Stephanie Wolf. Sound design and engineering by Shane Rumsey. Story editing from Nicole Vap. The theme music is by Brad Turner. Other music in this episode is courtesy of Blue Dot Sessions. Megan Verlee is CPR News’ executive producer of podcasts.
