Taxi-hailing app Uber has taken steps in South Africa to ensure the safety of drivers and passengers.

Over the last couple of months there have been a number of incidents that have threatened the safety of both riders and drivers – both through attacks and robberies.

Uber is trying to reduce the number of security-related incidents by putting dash cameras in a number of Uber vehicles in Cape Town. These camera will have forward and backwards-facing lenses.

“The purpose of these dash cameras is to provide riders and drivers with a sense of security knowing that if they are involved in an incident or accident that the event was recorded,” the company’s Samantha Allenberg explained.

She added that there will be a notification in the app if a requested car is equipped with a camera, so that riders know that they are being recorded. Once in the vehicle, riders will be made visually aware that recoding equipment is present.

“They [riders] can choose to decline the ride if they do not agree to the recording,” she said.

As an added measure of security, Uber will also outfit some cars in Johannesburg with panic buttons for the drivers in case of a critical situation.

“During the pilot, SOS buttons will be installed into select partner vehicles and linked to Uber’s central security system. The security team will monitor the devices 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This update will allow driver-partners to receive situation advice and/or emergency services dispatch in a critical situation,” Allenberg continued.

The panic button in cars are only being piloted in Johannesburg, but Allenberg said that should the pilot prove useful, the feature could be introduced to the other cities across South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.

[Source – Fin24]