Colorado’s governor, Jared Polis, on Tuesday signed a new law designed to increase protections for passengers and drivers of ride-hailing companies.
The law requires companies like Uber and Lyft to ensure that both drivers and passengers can opt in to audio and video recording during rides. It also mandates criminal background checks for drivers at least once every six months and expands the list of criminal convictions that disqualify someone from driving, regardless of how long ago the offense occurred.
The companies must also provide regular safety training for drivers and passengers and develop policies to prevent sexual and physical assault during rides. And they must share detailed incident data every year with state officials and lawmakers.
“The safety that Uber and Lyft have been selling us is a lie,” Jenny Willford, the Democratic state representative who introduced the legislation, said in a speech in May before Colorado’s House of Representatives. “They’ve spent billions crafting the image that makes you believe that when you use their app, when you hail a ride, when you get into the car, that you are protected and they are there for you, that you are safe.”
The law cites a New York Times investigation that found Uber received a report of sexual assault or sexual misconduct in the United States almost every eight minutes on average between 2017 and 2022 — far more than what the company has publicly disclosed. During her speech, Ms. Willford noted that the reporting showed that Uber’s data scientists and safety experts had spent years studying sexual assault during rides and testing tools that proved to be effective deterrents, including automatic recording. Uber executives repeatedly prioritized expanding their business over introducing stronger protections, The Times found.
Uber and Lyft both maintain that their platforms are overwhelmingly safe, with more than 99.9 percent of trips occurring without a safety incident of any kind. In separate statements, representatives for Uber and Lyft said the companies had worked with the bill’s sponsors on the legislation.
“While we may disagree with the benefits of certain provisions, overall, the bill now takes a more balanced approach that helps protect the safety of Coloradans while preserving reliable access to rides,” said Matt Kallman, an Uber spokesman.
“We’re grateful for the collaboration with the bill’s sponsors along the way and look forward to working with regulators to shape rules that deliver real protections for riders and drivers in Colorado,” said CJ Macklin, a Lyft spokesman.
Uber faces increased scrutiny across the country as lawmakers, investors and others move to hold the ride-hailing giant accountable for sexual violence during rides. Several efforts have cited The Times’s reporting, which also found that Uber’s background checks approved drivers with many types of criminal convictions, and that the company allowed many drivers with records of complaints to keep driving until passengers accused them of serious sexual assault.
A proposed ballot initiative in California, scheduled for a vote in November, would expand ride-hailing companies’ liability for sexual misconduct and assault against both drivers and passengers. In Virginia, lawmakers passed stricter regulations for background checks, among other measures. Uber itself has taken steps to enact more stringent internal background check policies.
Colorado’s legislation held deep personal significance for Ms. Willford, who last month shared her own experience being sexually assaulted during a Lyft ride in February 2024.
During the ride after a night out in Denver, she said during her speech in front of the Colorado House of Representatives, the driver started asking her personal questions. Then, instead of dropping her off at home, she said, her driver stopped in front of a neighbor’s house, entered the back seat and sexually assaulted her.
The driver was impersonating the Lyft driver who was supposed to pick Ms. Willford up. He has not been found.
Ms. Willford filed a lawsuit against Lyft in January 2025 and soon heard from others with similar stories. The issue was much more pervasive than she had imagined, she said.
Ms. Willford said the incident continued to haunt her, inducing nightmares and affecting her work and the way she parented.
“When I think about time, I know that I’m not the same person I was before the assault,” she said, “and I don’t know that I will ever see that version of me again.”
She told The Times that she was hopeful that the new regulation would protect drivers and passengers so “that in the future, people won’t have to know what being on this side of a sexual assault feels like.”
Emily Steel is an investigative reporter covering business for The Times. She has uncovered sexual misconduct at major companies and recently has focused on the ride-hailing industry.
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