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How Safe is Ride Sharing? Let’s Look at Safety Apps for Travelers

May 5, 2019 by Lee McDonald

With the advance of technology, travelers can benefit from conveniences that didn’t exist years ago. However, one must still be very cautious. Some apps advertise “safety features” that can easily lull travelers into a false sense of security.

safety apps
Photo credit: Cydcor via Foter.com / CC BY

These apps may offer some value, but without a specific plan in place to address emergencies, these safety features are pointless. FoneTrac isn’t like this…unlike other safety apps for travelers, it’s an app that offers a 24/7 connection to security experts.

A Tragic Example of Travel Safety Gone Awry

If you’re still unsure, here’s a real-life example of someone who didn’t use an app specifically designed for security measures. A young woman was recently found murdered after she got into a vehicle she mistakenly believed was her ride share. It was a tragic mistake. After the fact, the woman’s boyfriend realized that he didn’t have adequate means to help his girlfriend.

A news outlet reported the following: “I was on the phone tracking her through all this, just to make sure she got home safely, and immediately knew that there was something that was wrong,” the woman’s boyfriend said, according to WGHP. “Unfortunately, I was two and a half hours away. I’d do anything to go back.”

How often do you use a ride share and, thinking it’s the “safe” thing to do, share your ride progress with someone in your inner circle: a friend, a relative, a boyfriend or girlfriend? It’s important to realize this “safety feature” may not add much value to your safety if you don’t have a plan in place when things go wrong.

In the example above, the victim enabled her ride progress to be viewed by a “trusted contact,” as billed on the ride share company’s website. However, how much value does this have when your trusted contact is hours away and may not have any idea what to do in an emergency? This is where targeted safety apps for travelers like FoneTrac can help.

Travel Safety Requires Robust Travel Safety Apps

This recent homicide highlights the fact that many people get a false sense of security from inadequate “safety” measures. While the “share my ride” feature may alert someone that something is wrong, it’s rendered useless if the trusted contact doesn’t know what to do with that information.

Other features on ride share apps should raise similar questions about implied safety. One app’s website touts a feature that enables 911 calling through the app…and in some select cities, the app will automatically provide the location to emergency dispatchers. However, as a rider, how would you know which cities offer 911 calling and which ones don’t? And, if you’re not in one of those cities but can’t talk on your phone, how would you know what to expect?

Some ride share apps offer GPS Tracking as a feature “so there’s a record of your trip if something happens.” It sounds nice, but have you ever thought about what “if something happens” means? In the case of the young woman who got into the wrong vehicle, was the GPS tracking her specific phone? Or was it tracking the vehicle she didn’t get into? Either way, this horrific crime still occurred. Let’s now compare this with safety apps for travelers like FoneTrac that are designed specifically for individual security.

Safety Apps for Travelers can be Safer than “Security” Built-into Ride Sharing Apps

Let’s face it…the purpose of ride share apps is to provide their customers with affordable transportation. If safety really is your goal when you travel, you may want to consider safety apps for travelers like FoneTrac. Travel safety apps provide safe, reliable methods to summon emergency help when you need it and are actually designed for your safety. Some riders may not see past the smoke and mirrors that so-called “safety features” provide. The recent tragedy highlighted above sadly proves this. It’s far safer to allow ride share companies to focus on providing rides, and let travel safety companies provide emergency response that may yield much more meaningful results.

Filed Under: Press Releases Tagged With: corporate travel security, Executive Travel Security Expert, Travel Security Expert

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