Uber Canada says it's changed emergency policies after driver left with child in backseat
Uber Canada says it has updated its safety protocols for emergency situations after an incident in March where company representatives refused to contact a driver after he drove off with a child.
Julia Viscomi said Uber customer support refused to help her or Toronto police contact the driver after he left with her 5-year-old daughter asleep in the backseat in North York, CBC Toronto reported in April.
Police ended up finding the child without receiving help from Uber, about an hour and a half after the driver left with her, Viscomi said.
"While our standard protocol for serious safety incidents directs that only trained law enforcement should initiate contact with a driver, we recognize that exceptional circumstances, such as the incident on March 10, 2025, may require frontline customer support agents to step in and facilitate communication," Uber Canada said in a statement on Friday.
"As a result, we have updated our internal procedures to reflect this important clarification."
This update is effective immediately, the company confirmed to CBC Toronto.
Viscomi said she was "absolutely elated" by the change.
"There had been nothing [but] silence from both the City of Toronto and Uber for the last little while so I knew that things were being worked on, but I didn't know to what extent," she said.
"This was a very happy surprise."
'Our response could and should have been better'Michael van Hemmen, general manager of Uber Canada Rides, wrote a letter to Viscomi dated Thursday, apologizing for the incident.
"Our response could and should have been better, as our policies weren't built with this type of circumstance in mind," he wrote in the letter, provided to CBC Toronto.
He said the internal updates "recognize that in exceptional circumstances, such as the one involving your child, time is of the essence."
After the Uber representatives would not contact the driver, Viscomi said she called 911. An officer called Uber to get contact information for the driver but she said a representative for the ride-sharing company refused to provide it — stating the police needed to fill out a form.
Uber's guidelines for law enforcement say emergency disclosure requests must be submitted through the company's public safety response portal or by email using its emergency disclosure form.
Spokesperson Keerthana Rang said the Uber Canada support team followed standard protocols during the incident and advised the rider to contact law enforcement.
A Toronto police officer submitted a request through the public safety response portal on the night of the incident, she said in an email to Radio-Canada on Friday.
Uber Canada responded with identifying information on the driver, but it took just over an hour for Toronto police to get this information, she said — leading the company to initiate an internal review to review its existing processes and identity opportunities for improvement.
Toronto police confirmed in April that they found the child without help from Uber Canada.
In Friday's statement, Uber Canada said it has provided Toronto police with a "comprehensive overview of how Uber handles emergency requests."
The company said it distributed internal reference materials and spoke at a monthly meeting of senior officers. In-person training with officers about Uber's public safety team and portal have been scheduled for the fall.
Uber Canada said it also met with senior leadership from the City of Toronto's municipal licensing and standards division to discuss the incident.
CBC Toronto has reached out to the City of Toronto for comment.
Uber Canada said it has implemented other updates as well to safety protocols and operational procedures, but cannot disclose them "to protect and operational integrity and security of our safety systems."
cbc.ca
