How Uber and Lyft riders can stay safe after Samantha Josephson’s murder

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The University of South Carolina student entered the car of a man she mistook for her Uber driver, police said

A college student’s fatal Uber mixup has renewed the clamor for rideshare-app safety.

Samantha Josephson, a 21-year-old University of South Carolina student from New Jersey, climbed into a black four-door Chevrolet Impala she thought was her Uber after a night out with friends in late March, police said. Turkey hunters later found her body in a wooded area with “multiple sharp force injuries.” Authorities charged Nathaniel Rowland, 24, with her alleged kidnapping and murder.

“We believe that she simply mistakenly got into this particular car thinking it was an Uber ride,” the Columbia police chief, Skip Holbrook, said in a news conference. “She opened the door and got into it, and departed with the suspect driving.”

The young woman’s death has already prompted action to strengthen ridesharing safety. South Carolina State Reps. Seth Rose and Micah Caskey, for example, introduced a “Samantha L. Josephson Ridesharing Safety Act” bill this week requiring rideshare drivers to display illuminated, company-provided signage.

University of South Carolina president Harris Pastides, meanwhile, asked community members to pledge that they would ensure their rideshare vehicle and driver details aligned with information from the app, and make a habit of asking the driver, “What’s my name?” before entering the vehicle. A Change.org petition calling on Uber and Lyft LYFT, -6.39% to institute QR codes for verification purposes had drawn more than 66,000 backers by Friday afternoon.

And Josephson’s father, Seymour Josephson, urged riders during a vigil for his daughter to seek out safety in numbers. “If there is somebody else in that car, there is actually a chance,” he reportedly said.

An Uber spokeswoman, in a statement sent to MarketWatch, said the company had been “working with local law enforcement to educate the public about how to avoid fake rideshare drivers” since 2017.

The company in coming weeks plans to launch a social-media awareness campaign to “Check Your Ride” — in other words, make sure the car’s license plate, make and model, as well as the driver, match up with what the app says. It will also buy college-paper ads to promote a “Check Your Ride” PSA, promote its in-app safety center to U.S. riders, and remind riders during pickup of the “Check Your Ride” steps through push notifications.

“Everyone at Uber is devastated to hear about this unspeakable crime, and our hearts are with Samantha Josephson’s family and loved ones,” the Uber spokeswoman said. “We spoke with the University of South Carolina President and will be partnering with the university to raise awareness on college campuses nationwide about this incredibly important issue.”

Lyft, the company’s main competitor, did not respond to a request for comment about the recent heightened attention to rideshare safety.

And Josephson’s alleged assailant isn’t the only bad actor to have been mistaken for a rideshare professional: Police charged an Alabama man with kidnapping in March after finding an unconscious college student in the back seat of his car. He had posed as an Uber driver, authorities said, and used a fake Uber sign he purchased online.