On May 6, a 21-year-old air stewardess was killed by her driver while using Didi Chuxing's ride-hailing service in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province. This is not the first case of criminal activity involving drivers using ride-sharing services. According to news website ThePaper.cn, since October 2015, 39 crimes have been committed by drivers employed by ride-hailing apps, ranging from minor traffic offences to more severe cases of intentional injury, rape and drug trafficking. The stewardess' murder has once again steered public attention toward the issue of safety when using car-hailing platforms like Didi, China's largest ride-hailing service platform.

As shown by China Internet Network Information Center statistics, users of ride-hailing and carpooling services in China had reached 236 million by December 2017. As ride-hailing become an increasingly important part of people's lives as an affordable alternative means of getting around, what measures should be taken concordantly to ensure people's safety, and should the responsibility for the protection of passengers lie with the company or the state?

Threshold for selecting drivers

Yao Qi (Yangcheng Evening News): Since the death of the young stewardess on May 6, Didi Chuxing's ride-hailing service has been in the firing line. Didi has said it will suspend its carpooling service from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. as a part of its response to the killing, with both passengers and drivers to receive safety warnings when using the app around 10 p.m.. Didi is also consulting users as to whether video and audio recording is necessary during trips, and whether ex-convicts should be permitted to work as drivers on their service as long as their crimes are not related to personal and public safety.

If in-journey audio and video recording is introduced, then most disputes between drivers and passengers will be easily resolved, but the drawback is the compromise of passengers' privacy, as their phone numbers, home addresses, and even bank account numbers would be recorded by ride-hailing companies, which could in turn be used for other commercial purposes. This would likely deter many passengers who value their privacy. Other concerns center around the fact that the cars used for such services are usually private; even if cameras were installed, the owners could easily manipulate the equipment or the recording.

The issue of whether ex-convicts should be allowed to work as drivers for ride-sharing apps is a separate one, and one for which most people have shown their support. These individuals have already received the appropriate punishment according to law, and further social discrimination is a poor way to reintegrate them in society.

Of course, ride-hailing companies should not lower the standards they employ for selecting drivers. They should maintain contact with the police to better prevent the appointment of potentially dangerous drivers, and the relevant authorities should establish standards and requirements on the safety of drivers so as to ensure the safe operation of ride-hailing platforms.

Wang Xixin (www.thepaper.cn): Whether Didi should be held accountable depends on the specific details of the case. Drivers should go through real-name registration and the platform should verify the identity and personal information of the drivers and passengers using their service in accordance with regulations.

If the platform fails to conduct real-name registration verification for drivers, their cars and passengers, or if the collected data is wrong, the company is responsible. Whether or not drivers have been registered, and whether the platform's verification is sufficient must be decided based on the facts at hand, and only then can we judge whether the company should share some of the blame for this incident.

Joint supervisory mechanism

Gui Conglu (People's Daily): In some places, the untrammeled development of the industry has led to the neglect of various issues that might affect the future of ride-hailing. Cases of disparity between accounts and drivers, and weak scrutiny of drivers' criminal background all indicate shortcomings in the safety measures taken by ride-hailing platforms. When safety incidents occur, the whole sector is affected. The Ministry of Transport has thus stressed that the basic requirement for the sector is passenger safety and legitimate rights.

Nothing can be accomplished without norms and standards. Strict supervision is indispensable to the proper operation of the ride-hailing industry. In recent years, various regulations concerning the supervision of ride-hailing and carpooling services have been introduced, including requirements for drivers' identity and personal backgrounds, while operational norms and the thresholds for business access have also been raised.

Not long ago, the Ministry of Transport issued the Notice on Strengthening and Regulating the Joint Discipline and Penalty against Discredited Persons and Enterprises in the Taxi Sector (draft) to establish a blacklist for drivers who violate certain laws and regulations.

A joint supervisory mechanism should also be built under the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Public Security and the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission. These measures are conducive to the healthy development of the ride-hailing sector and the safety of passengers. However, the safety of passengers is not solely the responsibility of the government. The companies themselves must also assume their share of this duty.

Ride-hailing apps are an innovative product of the Internet Plus program, and as with any new product, safety is the number one requirement. Innovation that ignores safety will be detrimental to the interests of consumers and to its own long-term development, even if it is successful at the start. Some companies offering Internet services are eager to seize a share of the market by injecting huge amounts of capital and exaggerating the benefits of their products, but they pay little attention to safety.

When the red line of safety is crossed, the consequences are impossible to rectify; no amount of apologies, compensation, or retrospective measures can alleviate the pain of the victims and their families. Enterprises therefore must always keep in mind their social responsibilities.

Mao Jianguo (China Youth Daily): When it comes to ride-hailing services, the public has shown tolerance and encouragement in the process of its development. It is thanks to this consensus that the entire Internet economy is booming, including ride-hailing services.

However, tolerance does not justify the absence of supervision and management. It means that more targeted regulations should be implemented, particularly when problems in the industry can neither be solved by those platforms alone nor in a short space of time. In this case, the basic requirements must be made clear to ensure stable and long-term development of the industry.

The convenience brought by ride-hailing apps is of benefit to many, and the many problems encountered by the sector in recent years have taken customers by surprise. In the early days of its development, the major problems of ride-hailing service were related to prices, while today safety has become an increasingly urgent issue.

It is unwise to deliberately amplify a few, albeit extreme, cases. The ride-hailing sector is a large-scale business, and just like the traditional taxi industry, it is natural for it to encounter problems in the process of its growth. However, those engaged in this business must remember that safety comes first. The sector as a whole needs to stop and assess whether they are putting profits before passenger safety.

The mainstream view holds that competition in the online ride-hailing sector has entered a new stage. While the first stage of competition focused on grabbing a market share, in the second, safety will be the priority.

Without standards of safety, the public cannot feel comfortable in their daily life. To ensure safety, the ride-hailing sector must be self-disciplined, but this is unlikely to be enough. Relevant authorities should also take action. On May 11, the Ministry of Transport issued documents to propose a scheme that invokes a credibility system to force ride-hailing platforms to act in strict accordance with regulation and laws.

Introducing safety requirements to the sector does not contradict inclusiveness and tolerance for online ride-hailing services. For any sector, safety is the number one requirement. Emphasizing the safety of the ride-hailing and car-sharing industry is also a way of supporting its long-term development.

Copyedited by Laurence Coulton

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