"Drivers Say Reporting Assault to Lyft is ‘Extremely Traumatic'", 4 October 2019

...While concerns about Lyft's handling of rider safety have come to the fore, drivers told Motherboard that Lyft does even less to protect them from assaults and harassment by passengers...mostly women—emailed...with their own stories of assault and harassment on Lyft.

...Because...gig economy workers are classified as independent contractors...the company is not responsible for paying for worker’s compensation, disability leave, health insurance costs, or other damages...

...Uber and Lyft vehicles are exempt from being required to provide partitions or surveillance cameras; many of these laws were written prior to the advent of rideshare apps. Some rideshare drivers buy their own cameras...

...“Safety is fundamental to Lyft,” a Lyft spokesperson told Motherboard. “…we have designed policies and features that protect drivers and riders, and are continually developing new tools and processes to strengthen our platform as part of our ongoing efforts to keep our entire community safe.”

...These are welcome changes, but many drivers say that they regularly have poor experiences with the app and its trust and safety team, which runs the critical response hotline...

...Nicole Moore, a Lyft driver and organizer with Rideshare Drivers United in Los Angeles argues that Lyft’s favored solution of not pairing drivers with the same passengers after a complaint does not resolve the problem of harassment or assault...