Skip to main content

Didi Chuxing issues public apology for death of female passenger

Chinese ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing has blamed its own ‘vanity’ for lapses in safety which led to the rape and killing of a 20-year-old female passenger. The firm issued a public apology for the incident which took place on 28 August and says it will now prioritise safety over growth. In an emailed statement, Didi founder Cheng Wei and president Jean Liu say: "We see clearly this is because our vanity overtook our original belief. We raced non-stop, riding on the force of breathless expansion and
September 3, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

Chinese ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing has blamed its own ‘vanity’ for lapses in safety which led to the rape and killing of a 20-year-old female passenger. The firm issued a public apology for the incident which took place on 28 August and says it will now prioritise safety over growth.

In an emailed statement, Didi founder Cheng Wei and president Jean Liu say: "We see clearly this is because our vanity overtook our original belief. We raced non-stop, riding on the force of breathless expansion and capital, through these few years; but this has no meaning in such a tragic loss of life."

The 27-year-old driver was arrested and confessed to the murder of the 20-year-old victim.

According to Didi, the driver did not have a criminal record but a previous passenger had filed a complaint against him.

The %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external BBC BBC News website link false https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-45337860 false false%> says this follows Didi’s decision to suspend its Hitch carpool service following a public outcry over the second murder of a passenger in three months.

According to a %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external report BBC report website link false https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44081885 false false%> on 11 May, a 21-year-old woman had been killed after taking a ride in Zhengzhou, the capital of the east-central Henan province.

China’s transport ministry has since pressed Didi to conduct better driving vetting and education.

Didi has stated it intends to establish a system for passengers to call the police and improve safety features which include a function that allows riders to share itineraries.

The company says it would also re-evaluate Hitch’s business model.

"We might not be able to eradicate 100% the ill deeds carried out by criminals who might seek to abuse this platform, but we will try our upmost to protect passengers and drivers and continue to drive down crime rate in this industry," the statement adds.

UTC

Related Content

  • March 9, 2018
    US parking tools refreshed
    The US Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and National Parking Association have agreed to work together on updating their respective Parking Generation Manual and Shared Parking tools, last revised in 2010 and 2009. Fresh analyses in the former will differentiate levels of demand in rural, general urban/suburban, dense multi-use urban and core city centre locations, said ITE CEO Jeffrey F Paniati
  • February 24, 2017
    ITS World Congress 2017 - call for papers deadline is 3 March
    There is still time to submit papers for the 24th ITS World Congress 2017 in Montreal, which is hosted by ITS America will host the event from, 29 October to 2 November, with the theme of ‘Integrated Mobility Driving Smart Cities’. If you have undertaken research on an advanced ITS topic, the World Congress International Program Committee invites you to present your findings in Montreal by submitting a paper through the submission website. (link submission.itsworldcongress2017.org.) The Call for Spe
  • January 8, 2014
    ITS European congress papers deadline extended
    The deadline for paper and special interest session proposal submissions for the ITS European Congress and Exhibition in Helsinki has been extended to midnight on 14 January. We have already received many valuable submissions and we thank you for your contributions. Papers and special interest session proposals should be submitted through the submission portal, which also provides the submission guidelines. For further details on the congress and exhibition, visit the Congress website.
  • August 2, 2018
    UK government gets future mobility challenge underway
    The UK government has unveiled plans under its Future of Mobility Grand Challenge which could change how people, goods and services move around the country. These initiatives have been outlined in the Last Mile and Future of mobility call for evidence, which provide an insight into how technology could make transport safer, more accessible and greener. Under the plans, electric cargo bikes, vans, quadricycles and micro vehicles could replace vans in UK cities as part of a strategy to change last-mile