Englewood, Chicago became the site of yet another senseless act of violence Wednesday morning when a 23-year-old rideshare passenger was killed in a drive-by shooting. Dontius M. Wilson fell victim to gunfire from a dark-colored sedan while he was being driven through his neighborhood. The concerning escalation in violence targeting passengers of services like Uber casts a looming shadow over the gig economy and the city, according to ABC7.
Rattled and traumatized, the Uber driver who experienced the shooting firsthand shared his ordeal with ABC7, detailing how the incident unfolded around 1 a.m. and the horrors encountered as the driver of a car on West 69th Street—merely weeks into his job. He recounted how his vehicle was blocked by another before shots were fired, piercing the car's windows and leaving him with minor injuries' wake.
In response to the escalating concerns for safety during nocturnal trips across Chicago's nebulous web of streets, Uber has launched new customizable night safety features, which include audio recording in cars and an option to automatically share trips with friends and family, as CBS News noted on Wednesday.
The company expressed heartfelt condolences and offered its cooperation with law enforcement. Drawing from the horror of that night, the driver now urges for increased safety measures such as adding cameras within the rideshare cars. He shared with ABC7, "If the cars had cameras, then we can at least see who did this."
