AI Summary
5 min readIn 2017, Sophia, a 38-year-old mother of two, went out for a night of drag shows in downtown Sacramento with friends from the restaurant where she worked. She had her first drink in years, her tolerance low after having her youngest daughter. When it was time to go home, a friend ordered a ride share. Traffic was heavy, so Sophia hopped into the front seat. She remembers giving the driver her friend’s address and then nothing until she woke up in a wooded area off a highway, the driver on top of her. She pushed him off; he slammed the car into park and began apologizing repeatedly. Disoriented and unable to find her phone, she let him call it so he could take her home. “It was really scary,” she says. “I need to keep reiterating how intoxicated I was. I didn't make this decision with a clear mind, but it shouldn't matter.”
The Aftermath and the Runaround
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What you'll learn
- 1 Main Outline
- 2 (01:52) **Ride Share Safety Context** - Episode opens with a detailed overview of ride share industry history, driver classification, and the scope of sexual assault cases
- 3 (11:35) **Sophia Introduces Herself** - The survivor shares her background and the night she went out with friends
- 4 (15:46) **The Ride Home** - Sophia and her friend order a ride share, and the driver deviates from the route
- 5 (16:55) **The Assault** - Sophia describes the attack and her immediate aftermath
- 6 (18:50) **Reporting to Friends and Police** - Sophia tells her friend and fiancé what happened
- 7 (20:34) **Jurisdictional Runaround** - Sophia struggles to get police to take her report
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
*Content Warning: sexual assault, rideshare-facilitated sexual assault, fatphobia, and rape.
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*Sources:
- Associated Press. “Uber Liable for Sexual Assault of Passenger, Jury Finds.” AP News, 2 Apr. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/uber-sexual-assault-liable-f2aaf57a2b88948107acfcf11ebc0813.
- Bousso, Ron. “Lyft Reports More Than 4,000 Sexual Assaults in 2019 Safety Report.” Fortune, 22 Oct. 2021, https://fortune.com/2021/10/22/lyft-4000-sexual-assaults-2019-safety-report.
- California Secretary of State. “California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., Announces Proponent Withdraws Initiative to Expand Liability and Impose Duties on Rideshare Companies Regarding Sexual Misconduct.” California Secretary of State, 25 June 2026, https://www.sos.ca.gov/administration/news-releases-and-advisories/2026-news-releases-and-advisories/california-secretary-state-shirley-n-weber-phd-announces-proponent-withdraws-initiative-expand-liability-and-impose-duties-rides.
- “CNN: 103 Uber Drivers Accused of Sexual Assault or Abuse.” CBS News, 30 Apr. 2018, https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/cnn-103-uber-drive
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