Uber riders: If something goes wrong and you need emergency assistance, you can now call 911 right inside the app.
Uber on Tuesday confirmed to PCMag that the 911 button it announced in April is now available for all US riders. You can access this feature when you're on a trip by tapping the new safety badge icon (a shield with a checkmark inside of it) located on the Uber home screen. The 911 button should be especially helpful if you run into trouble and are unsure of your exact location.
"Once the rider connects with 911, they can view their real-time location, both on a map and as an address, so that they can easily share it directly with the 911 operator," Uber said.
As part of this rollout, Uber is partnering with RapidSOS on a new "911 integration pilot" that gives riders in certain cities the option to let the app automatically share their location and trip details with 911 dispatchers when they call for help. Those cities include Denver; Charleston, S.C.; Nashville, Chattanooga, and Tri-Cities, Tenn.; Naples, Fla.; and Louisville, Ky. If you're not into that feature, you can disable it via settings.
"While no one should ever have to call 911 when using Uber, no form of transportation is 100 percent free of incidents," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote in an April blog post. "If ever faced with an emergency situation, we want to help you get the help you need."
In April, CNN reported that Uber passengers have reported at least 103 Uber drivers in the US for sexual assault or abuse in the last four years.
Uber also allows riders to designate up to five family members or friends as Trusted Contacts in the Uber app and set up prompts that will remind you to share your trip details with those people before every ride or just when you're Ubering at night. That way, your loved ones will be able to follow along and see when you made it to your destination safely.
The new safety features come as Uber deals with the repercussions of a fatal autonomous vehicle crash in Arizona this March. According to a preliminary report released last week by the National Transportation Safety Board, the Uber self-driving car that struck and killed the Arizona woman had detected her presence six seconds before the collision, but failed to stop because the automatic braking systems onboard were turned off.