Today’s Topic Is it safe to use Didi hitchhiking service in China? Recently, the Didi passenger murder incident keeps simmering and sparks wide public rage on the safety of the car-hailing service and the platform. You may have heard that, after a flight attendant was killed in the Didi hitchhiking for only 110 days, another similar incident occurred. On August 24, a 20-year-old girl from Yueqing City, Wenzhou, was raped, killed and forced to transfer 9,000 yuan to the suspect’s account through WeChat before the murder. In addition to the apology statement, Didi also halts its “hitch” ride services across China starting Monday. Image | Weibo How does Uber handle this problem? A few years ago, Uber launched its own hitchhiking business, Uber Pool. Many Americans associated this business with hunting women, and even called it “New Tinder”. Image | Google Like the Didi, incidents of Uber drivers harassing or harming passengers have also been reported. In the past four years, at least 121 Uber drivers have been accused in the United States, including 103 Uber drivers and 18 Lyft drivers. They are suspected of having rape, forcibly touching, and kidnapping. In this regard, Uber’s changes are To check the drivers’ background and hire third-party companies to closely monitor. If a driver is charged with a crime, Uber will be notified immediately. Since early July, Uber began to test the system and so far, 25 drivers have been disqualified. To add an emergency button in the Uber app that allows passengers to call the police in an emergency. Once the call is connected, the passengers do not need to tell their address and Uber will automatically locate the GPS, passenger information, vehicle appearance, license plate and etc. The plate number will be automatically shared to the police dispatcher in real time. At the same time, it is convenient for passengers to share their locations with friends or family members. After the driver is complained for the first time, Uber customer service can block his/her account for at least 7 days. If the passengers encounter danger and their family members want the driver’s information (such as license plates, real photos, etc.), they only need to report the passenger’s personal information such as the ID number proves that you are the passenger’s family.
Tag Archives: Didi
Again! Murder of Didi Passenger Sparks Safety Concerns In China!
Three months after the murder of a passenger, another ride-sharing passenger was raped and killed by a driver of Didi Hitch, a car-pooling service offered by China’s largest ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing, according to a police statement released on Saturday. Image | Weibo Second Such Homicide Recently! The murder incident sparked wide public rage on the safety of the car-hailing service and the platform. The victim, a 20-year-old female passenger, surnamed Zhao, in Yueqing, eastern China’s Zhejiang province, took a Didi Hitch car on Friday afternoon. An hour later she sent a “help” text message to friends before losing contact. Right after the victim sent a “help” message, her family and friends immediately contacted Didi customer service and reported to the local police. However, Didi did not offer information about the driver to the police until several hours later, according to media reports. Didi explained in the statement that the company could not give information about the platform’s users to anyone other than police in order to protect users’ privacy. Image | Weibo Meanwhile, Ms. Zhao was forced to transfer more than 9,000 yuan to the suspect via WeChat. According to the hitching route, the car turned back after reaching the top of the mountain, presumably because there was no signal from the top of the mountain and the money could not be transferred. The driver, who was in a small village closest to the body, raped and killed the victim, and later dumped the body. This incident has gone viral on China’s social media, with an array of web users vigorously denouncing Didi and believing its apology to be lacking of sincerity. Quite a few social media users noted they will no longer use any services it provides because “there is no ‘reset’ button in life”! Image | DUSHIKUAIBAO On Saturday morning, the police arrested the suspect, a 27-year-old Didi driver surnamed Zhong who admitted that he raped and killed the victim. The woman might still be alive if… The company also said it “blames itself” for failing to follow and deal with a passenger’s complaint about the suspect, submitted just a day before Zhao was killed. The complaint said that the suspect drove to a remote place and followed the passenger after she got off the car, according to Didi’s statement. Image | 扬子晚报 Didi just told her that someone would call her in two hours, but the call never came. In other words if the driver is indeed guilty of the deed, the woman might still be alive had the earlier passenger’s complaint been heeded. And if the company had heeded the lessons from the death of the air stewardess, its customer service could have been more efficient and notified the police that the woman needed assistance. Didi suspends ‘hitch’ service, sacks executives Didi Chuxing, the nation’s largest online car-hailing platform, will halt its “hitch” ride services across the country starting Monday after a rape and killing of a female rider by a Didi driver in Zhejiang. Image | Weibo Effective from midnight Aug 27, it will suspend its “hitch” online services nationwide and re-evaluate its business model and service logic, it said in a statement on Sunday. Image | Chinadaily The company also dismissed Huang Jieli, general manager for the “hitch” business, and Huang Jinhong, vice-president for client services, from their duties, the statement said.