If you ride with Uber, or drive for them, the ride-share company has some new features to make trips go a little smoother — on both sides of the car.
The first is a “verified” designation for riders. Similar to social media apps, a verified tag lets prospective drivers know you’re on the up-and-up, similar to the TSA’s security pre-check.
To get verified, you’ll need to confirm with the company via a photo of your ID and a selfie.
An Uber driver identified as L. Denise tells Good Morning America, “If you’re verified, it just helps us say, ‘Yep, we’ll get that ride.’ You’ll get a ride quicker. You won’t have to wait.”
She adds, “You won’t have to get canceled on once [drivers] know, like, ‘Hey this neighborhood, I’m really not sure about it.’ Once you’re verified, it just makes life easier for everybody.”
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi adds, “If you have a verified badge, you have an advantage over someone who might not be verified in a driver accepting a ride.”
Also making things safer is a new Record My Ride feature, which allows the drivers to use their front-facing camera to record video and audio during trips.
However, it’s not for drivers to spy on riders — via encryption, the video cannot be accessed by the driver unless he or she files a safety report after an incident with a rider.
The new added level of security came after several recent attacks on drivers, including an August incident that was caught on camera when a woman pepper-sprayed her Uber driver.
The woman, Jennifer Guilbeault, 23, was later arraigned on charges of assault as a hate crime, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.