Every day millions of you put your trust in Uber to get to your destination, meeting with friends, job interviews, and to connect with the best local food options. It’s not a trust we take lightly.

Our new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has made safety a top priority for Uber. With about 15 million trips happening on the Uber app each day, we are putting safety at the heart of everything we do. That means working to raise the bar on safety and developing innovative products that aim to increase transparency, accountability and peace of mind for all users on the app.

Today we’re proud to begin rolling out new safety features in Uganda, doubling down on safety in our app and helping you stay safe and connected throughout your journeys.

Here is a snapshot of the new rider, driver and deliver-partner Safety Toolkit features you’ll be able to view in your app very soon:

Safety Toolkit

We’ve updated both our rider and driver-partner apps with safety in mind, locating all things safety in one central place and making it accessible directly from the rider home screen or driver-partner map during each trip. Over the coming weeks, riders and drivers will begin to see a ‘shield’ icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the map screen during a trip. With a simple tap, one can access the safety toolkit.

Safety Centre: From the Safety Centre, riders can learn more about safety at Uber in one central location in the app – from driver background checks to details on how to contact our 24/7 support.

Driver Emergency Button: This features allows drivers to call for assistance from a private third party security supplier who can dispatch emergency services as well as security response services if needed directly from the app.

If ever faced with an emergency situation, we want to help you get the help you need. Before placing a call we’ll provide you with useful information, such as your real-time GPS location (both on a map and as an address), car make and model, and license plate so these can easily be shared with the local operator.

Trusted Contacts & Share Trip: It’s now even easier for riders to keep their loved ones in the loop. Riders can select up to five friends and family members as Trusted Contacts and  choose to be prompted to share trip details with them during every ride with a single tap. Drivers who use our app already can share their whereabouts and trip status right from the shield icon on the map with ‘Share Trip’.

Speed Alerts: Experts say that letting people know how fast they’re going, relative to the speed limit, can help them travel at safer speeds. The Uber app puts this feature right on the map, so that drivers and delivery partners always know the speed limit. Drivers tell us this helps them stay safe on the road.

When it comes to safety, our work is never done. Uber has a responsibility to help keep people safe, and it’s one we take seriously. We want you to have peace of mind when you use Uber, and hope these new features make it clear that we’ve got your back.