Uber Just Got A New Emergency Feature In Ottawa & Here's How It Works
Ottawa is the first city in Canada to have it.
Phone with Uber app open. Right: Buildings in downtown Ottawa.
Uber just announced a new safety feature that allows emergency responders to locate its cars in real-time during an emergency, and Ottawa is the first Canadian city to test out the technology.
Uber, along with RapidSOS and the Ottawa Police, has launched a new emergency button feature that shares data directly with 911 telecommunicators so first responders get critical information that much quicker.
Currently, in other cities in Canada, when you click the emergency button on the app, the information of the rider's location, car model and license plate number pop up so you can share the details with 911 responders. With this new pilot technology in Ottawa, this information is shared with 911 automatically, including the rider's contact information.
The dispatcher sees all of this crucial information through a portal on their computer screen so they can share it with first responders as soon as they receive the call. The rider's location will be updated to keep track of the car's direction if it's moving.
"Safety is at the heart of the Uber platform, which is why we are constantly looking at ways to leverage technology to make the platform safer for riders and drivers," Michael van Hemmen, General Manager of Uber Mobility in Canada, said in a press release. "We are excited to pilot 911 integration in Ottawa and, in partnership with local law enforcement, we hope to bring it to every city in Canada."
This safety project is part of a larger expansion plan to make this technology available in over 2,000 cities, which would cover over 74% of all Uber rides in the United States. The press release states that "U.S. regulators estimate about 10,000 lives in the U.S. could be saved every year if first responders were able to get to a 911 caller just one minute faster."
Since the launch of the original emergency button in 2018, Uber has partnered with RapidSOS and its 911 integration technology along with local authorities in over 1,800 American cities, as well as in cities in Latin America and South Africa.
This new safety feature is effective now in Ottawa and Uber hopes to expand it across Canada.