I match their photo to the person that shows up.
^^^^^This is really
THE KEY to rider safety, but I'll give you the full spectrum of ways to get in the right car:
As your Uber/Lyft is en route, you will get the following information:
- description of the car picking you up -- with picture
- tag number of the car picking you up -- not as helpful in Florida as some other states, because our only tag is on the rear of the vehicle
- real first name of the driver (more on that later)
- the ability to call or text the driver while they are en route (call only on Lyft)
- PHOTO of the driver
In
some locations (Denver, Miami, Nashville, and now distributing in NYC, Chicago, and San Francisco),
some Ubers (the more experienced, higher rated drivers) will have an
Uber Beacon mounted on their front windshield. If you get lucky, when the driver is a couple of minutes away, you will be asked to "
Select a color." When you select a color, the Beacon on your Uber will magically start pulsating in that color. Very cool, and makes pickups in crowded venues easier.
(Lyft has a similar device in some markets, called the Lyft Amp, but I've never used it and don't know how it works.)
When the driver approaches, do
NOT ask,
"Are you Jim?" Yeah, sure lady -- I can be Jim!
Ask, "What is your name?" The driver should do the same -- NOT
"Are you Angi?" but what is your name?
But most important,
take a good look at that driver's face, and compare it to the picture on your rider app. It MUST be the same...or you DON'T even think about getting in that car.
Just FYI, Uber periodically requires us to do a live update of our driver photo. We attempt to go online to start driving, and the app won't let us until we take a selfie with our driver app, AND it is verified by Uber's facial recognition software. Only Uber does this; Lyft does not, and I wish they did.
What if the photo does not match?
First, what does that mean? Very simple. It means that
neither you, nor Uber/Lyft,
have any idea who is behind the wheel! That driver almost certainly has NOT been background-checked, and the company doesn't even know they're driving!
Anybody can go to Google Images, download a picture of an Uber or Lyft logo, print it and put it in their window. Then they can troll around, looking for suckers in precisely the manner that Best Aunt was approached. It happens hundreds of times daily -- especially at busy venues.
Don't put yourself at risk. The companies go to a lot of effort and expense to keep you safe --
do your part. CHECK THE PHOTO!