writer: Kurt Zindulka

"echinawire.com"





A driver for the ride hailing app Didi Chuxing has been arrested in Shenzhen for robbing and murdering a 24 year old female passenger.





The crime was committed on May 2nd, at around 9 o’clock in the evening.





The unidentified woman was on her way to a local primary school, where she worked as a teacher. The driver instead drove the woman to a remote area of the city, where he took her money and then killed her.





The driver, identified by his surname as Pan, had switched out the license plate on his car, believing that this would hide his identity. The man however had registered through the app with his real id, driving license and his car’s registration number.





The driver was arrested the following day, after a picture of his car was posted online.





Ride hailing apps like Uber and Didi are becoming popular throughout China, particularly in the major cities. The booming industry is struggling to enact safety measures, to ensure the well being of their users.





According to the Southern China Morning Post, Shenzhen authorities conducted a study in March on drivers working for five popular ride hailing services. The study found that there were currently 1,425 drivers in the city with documented drug abuse, and a further 1,661 drivers who had other criminal offenses on their record. The drivers were later fired from their jobs.





Didi has stated that it is working to improve its safety measures, as well as committing to work with local police in order to set up surveillance systems.





This murder is sadly not the first instance of Didi drivers attacking female passengers. On April 11th a driver was sentenced to 8 years in prison for robbing and raping a woman in Wuhan. The man used a fake gun, had her wire him 25,000 yuan and then raped her.





Another man in Guangzhou was driving a drunk woman home, and when she passed out in the back of his taxi, he raped her.





Many netizens have expressed concern about the dangers of using ride hailing apps. Others suggested that the tracking system used by Uber and Didi could help in criminal investigations, while unliscenced "black cabs" have absolutely no oversight.





New regulations are currently being drafted by the government and are expected within the next month.



