By Liliana Leanos

Ride-sharing services are becoming very popular in larger cities because it’s a hassle to park your car somewhere in crowded streets. Getting a ride with a click of a button on your phone is just more convenient, especially more so than hailing a taxi. There are many apps such as Lyft, and Uber. Uber is the more popular option at this point in time. Its name is more well known and people feel comfortable with well-known companies. However, how much can you actually trust these Uber drivers?

Uber in itself is a great company. In theory, it sounds like a great idea, as well. Customers can sign up with the app and request a car within a reasonable time, with a driver that could be anyone from a coworker to a neighbor. This is where it gets questionable. Drivers could be anyone. Unlike taxi drivers, who are given background checks and drive the taxi for a living, Uber drivers are doing this as a side job. There is the possibility of these people having ulterior motives. In some cases, these car rides have gone bad.

This past February, Richard Smith picked up and dropped off passengers between shootings. One of the passengers who was in the car right before the shootings started claimed that Smith got a phone call then started to drive erratically.

Uber monitors their drivers with their ratings on the Uber app. Bad ratings raise suspicions and good ratings don’t raise suspicions There is also the fact that Uber drivers are allowed to keep some of their profile information private. There should not be anything to hide while just driving someone around.

Uber cars can be useful in many cases but there is a good chance that something can happen in that car ride. Making the assumption that just because the person can be your co-worker or neighbor or even your friend, it’s still possible not to know how that ride with a stranger will go.