Rideshare Assault Is Happening in Dallas
Dallas-Fort Worth ranks among the largest metropolitan areas in the country, with millions of residents spread across a region where driving is the default and public transit covers only a fraction of the sprawl.
Uber and Lyft fill that gap for commuters, travelers passing through DFW Airport, and anyone heading to entertainment districts like Deep Ellum, Uptown, or the Bishop Arts District.
That volume of rideshare activity means Dallas passengers face the same risks documented in national safety data.
In the five most serious sexual assault categories—non-consensual touching of sexual body parts, non-consensual kissing, attempted penetration, and completed penetration:
- Uber's Safety Report recorded 2,717 incidents in a single year.
- Lyft documented 2,651 incidents over a two-year period.
Those figures represent only what passengers formally reported through company platforms. Investigative reporting reveals the actual numbers are far higher.
Violence Against Women's 2025 article "Every Eight Minutes: The Crisis of Sexual Assault in Uber Rides," found that between 2017 and 2022, Uber received a report of sexual assault or misconduct in the United States approximately every eight minutes.
That totals over 400,000 reports of sexual assault across five years, far exceeding what the company publicly disclosed. The New York Times obtained internal court documents confirming similar discrepancies between Uber's public statements and internal records.
Dallas passengers are part of these statistics. The city's reliance on rideshare for late-night transportation, airport travel, and connections across a sprawling metro creates conditions where assaults occur and survivors struggle to come forward.
Recognizing What Happened to You
Sexual assault during rideshare trips takes forms that survivors don't always immediately recognize. The experience may feel confusing because it doesn't match expectations of what assault looks like.
Survivors in Dallas have described Uber and Lyft drivers who:
- Locked doors and refused to let them exit until they complied with requests;
- Steered conversation toward dating life, sexual preferences, or living arrangements;
- Placed a hand on their knee, thigh, or back without permission;
- Took routes they didn't approve or stopped in unfamiliar areas;
- Asked to come inside their home or hotel for a "tip";
- Sent messages through the app after the ride ended;
- Made sexual gestures or sounds during the trip; or
- Waited outside their destination and watched them enter.
Sexual assault isn't about physical violence. It's about one person ignoring another person's right to say no. When a driver uses their position to pressure, touch, or intimidate you, that's assault.
Why Uber or Lyft Sexual Assault Survivors Struggle to Come Forward
Many survivors wait weeks, months, or years before telling anyone. The reasons are understandable.
- Fear of disbelief. Survivors worry that no one will take them seriously, that they'll face skepticism or be told they misunderstood what happened.
- Shame that doesn't belong to you. Assault creates feelings of shame in survivors, even though that shame belongs entirely to the person who caused the violence.
- Dependence on rideshare. In Dallas, where distances are vast and public transit options are limited, Uber and Lyft feel necessary for getting to work, school, the airport, or home late at night. The thought of losing that access can feel paralyzing.
- Past negative experiences. Previous encounters with police, employers, or others who dismissed or blamed you can make the idea of reporting again feel pointless.
- Cultural and family pressure. Community expectations, religious beliefs, or family dynamics can create pressure to stay silent about sexual violence.
"It's not always easy to speak up after something like this. But every survivor deserves the chance to be taken seriously, to be supported, and to understand what options are available, without being rushed or dismissed."
— Laurel L. Simes, Founding Attorney
What Uber and Lyft Exposed Dallas Passengers To
Both companies market themselves as safe transportation options. Their records tell a different story.
Background Check Failures
Uber and Lyft screening processes miss criminal histories from other states, fail to verify driver identities, and approve applicants with records that should disqualify them. Drivers with histories of violence and sexual offenses have been approved to transport passengers throughout Texas.
Complaints That Went Nowhere
Survivors who reported rideshare assaults describe responses that felt dismissive and bureaucratic. In documented cases, drivers accused by multiple passengers remained active on platforms for months while the companies continued profiting from their rides.
Safety Features That Don't Function
Emergency buttons sometimes fail to connect to 911 dispatchers. GPS tracking has recorded inaccurate locations during incidents. In-app reporting systems marketed to promote safety confuse survivors seeking immediate help.
Texas Regulatory Gaps
Texas state law preempts local rideshare regulations, limiting cities like Dallas's ability to impose stricter safety requirements on Uber and Lyft. This regulatory structure leaves passengers with fewer protections than residents of states with stronger oversight frameworks.
Profits Before Passengers
Internal documents show both companies developed tools to identify high-risk rides years ago, but chose not to implement adequate safeguards. Growth and revenue took priority over passenger safety.
Not sure where to start? Have questions about what Texas law allows?
Levin Simes offers free, confidential consultations. Contact us at (415) 426-3000 to connect with a Dallas Lyft sexual assault attorney.
Is There a Deadline for Filing a Rideshare Sexual Assault Claim in Dallas?
Texas law gives survivors time to come forward, but deadlines do apply.
For adult survivors, Texas allows five years from the date of the assault to file a civil lawsuit. For survivors who were minors at the time, the timeline extends significantly. Generally, those survivors have until age 33 (15 years after turning 18) to file claims under certain conditions.
You Don't Need a Police Report or Criminal Charges
Civil lawsuits operate separately from the criminal system. You can file a claim against the driver who assaulted you and against Uber or Lyft without involving police, without criminal charges being filed, and without anyone else's permission. Civil cases give you autonomy over how you address what happened.
Forced Arbitration No Longer Applies
For years, Uber and Lyft used mandatory arbitration clauses buried in their terms of service to block survivors from filing public lawsuits. Following sustained pressure from survivors and advocates, both companies ended this practice for sexual assault claims.
Dallas survivors can now pursue justice through Texas courts rather than private arbitration proceedings that favored the companies.
What a Dallas Uber Sexual Assault Lawyer Can Help You Recover
Money cannot undo what happened. It can provide resources for healing and hold the companies accountable for the failures that enabled the assault.
Financial recovery in a rideshare sexual assault case may address:
- Counseling and therapy expenses,
- Medical treatment costs,
- Missed work and lost income,
- Emotional suffering and psychological impact, and
- Punitive damages in cases involving particularly egregious conduct.
Many survivors say that working with a Dallas Lyft sexual assault lawyer to file a claim gave them a sense of control over what happens next. These cases also contribute to broader efforts demanding better screening, stronger safety features, and corporate accountability from rideshare companies.
A national survey conducted by Martindale-Nole confirmed that survivors who work with experienced attorneys receive compensation at far higher rates than those who handle claims independently.
One survivor shared:
"So grateful for all the work that you, your staff, and your firm have done for me and other victims (survivors) in this situation! I will forever be grateful."
— C.R.
Levin Simes Leads the Fight Against Rideshare Companies
Dallas survivors connect with a legal team that has been at the center of rideshare safety litigation for years.
As lead counsel in the consolidated Uber and Lyft sexual assault cases, Levin Simes has obtained settlements for over 500 survivors. Our firm has reviewed internal company documents, deposed executives, and built cases that reveal how both companies allowed dangerous drivers to remain on their platforms.
CNN, NPR, and The Guardian have covered our firm's work, helping bring public attention to the scale of this problem.
Working with Levin Simes means your case benefits from a Dallas Uber sexual assault attorney who understands rideshare litigation at every level while receiving personal attention and trauma-informed care.
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