Shenzhen female teacher was killed by Didi Hitch, and the online car-hailing platform is full of hidden dangers
Xinhua News Agency Shenzhen New Media Special Telegram on May 4 Question: Female teacher was killed while hitchhiking on Didi. Who will guarantee the safety of online car-hailing?
Xinhua News Agency "China Network" reporter Fei Mao Siqian
Shenzhen police reported on the 3rd that a 24-year-old woman in Nanshan, Shenzhen was robbed and killed after riding an online car on the evening of the 2nd, and the alleged offender was arrested on the 3rd. Subsequently, Didi confirmed that the woman was riding a ride on the Didi platform.
In recent years, with the rapid development of Internet technology and the sharing economy, the online car-hailing industry has been increasingly accepted and relied on by ordinary citizens. However, the continuous exposure of bad industry phenomena and even vicious safety incidents has also caused the public to have doubts about the safety of online car-hailing. Who should ensure the safety of online car-hailing?
Female teacher hitchhiked on Didi Hitchhiker killed
The Shenzhen police reported on the 3rd that in the early morning of the same day, the high-tech police station of Shenzhen Nanshan Public Security Bureau received the alarm from the victim, saying that his wife Zhong took an online car in Nanshan High-tech Zone on the evening of the 2nd, and the destination was Baoan Shajing. At 22:15, when the victim called his wife again, the mobile phone was turned off and he could not get in touch.
After receiving the report, Shenzhen Nanshan police set up a task force to investigate, found the vehicle involved in the case in Bao’an District at noon on the 3rd, and then arrested the alleged offender Pan in a rental house in Bao’an District. After interrogation, the suspect Pan confessed that after receiving Zhong on an express platform at 21:00 on the 2nd, he drove the vehicle to a remote road section, forced Zhong to hand over his belongings with a knife, and then killed Zhong. The case is currently under further investigation.
The reporter learned that the victim, Zhong, an English teacher at a primary school in Baoan District, Shenzhen, was killed on his way back to school after the May Day holiday.
"On the 2nd, she took a ride from home to the school dormitory after 9 pm, and the normal time should be after 10 pm. But by 11 pm, she did not report safety. I asked my colleagues in the school dormitory and learned that she did not arrive at the dormitory." Zhong’s relatives said that before boarding the car, Zhong also sent her husband the license plate number of the ride.
On the evening of the 3rd, Didi confirmed that Zhong was riding a ride on the Didi platform. Didi said that the suspect Pan used his real ID card, driver’s license and driving license (license plate number Guangdong B6S8N3) to register on the ride platform and passed the review, but the license plate of the vehicle involved (Guangdong C2S8N3) was temporarily forged by Pan.
Audit checks are not strict, information security vulnerabilities exist, and online car-hailing platforms are full of hidden dangers
After the incident, many netizens pointed out: Have online car-hailing platforms fulfilled their audit obligations?
As early as the end of March this year, the Shenzhen Municipal Traffic Commission interviewed five online car-hailing platforms, including Didi, Uber, Shenzhou, Yidao, and Xingxing, and reported five major problems such as "lax checks on driver recruitment" on the online car-hailing platform. At that time, the preliminary investigation data of the public security department showed that there were 1,425 drug addicts, 1 mental patient who caused an accident, and 1,661 criminal convicts among the Shenzhen online car-hailing driver group.
Mr. Zhang, who recently became a Didi driver, told reporters that he did not provide the online ride-hailing platform with proof of whether an individual had a criminal record. "Didi’s review process is relatively loose, and it may have taken me 10 minutes to fill in the information. The next day, Didi informed me to become a driver, and did not call or verify my identity in person."
In addition, many netizens believe that there are information security bugs on the online car-hailing platform. In fact, when calling a car on the Didi platform, the first two digits of the license plate are technically processed by the platform, and passengers can only see the last 4 digits or letters of the license plate.
In this vicious incident, Didi Hitch’s fake license plate information is Guangdong C2S8N3, and the license plate registered on Didi is Guangdong B6S8N3. On Didi’s software, both license plates show "Guangdong ** S8N3". "Two different license plates, but they are exactly the same on Didi’s software." Some netizens believe that with the license plate display information, passengers cannot accurately distinguish the difference between the car they call and the one registered on the platform, and there are certain information security bugs on the online car-hailing platform.
Is the information connection between the online car-hailing platform and relevant departments timely and sufficient?
Relatives of the victim, Zhong, said they could not get through by calling Zhong that night, and asked for the driver’s phone number through the ride-hailing platform, but they never got through. "It was after 12 o’clock when we asked for the driving route and location information, and the customer service of the ride-hailing platform had been off work. Then we went to the police station to report the case."
Business consulting firm iResearch recently released a report saying that by the end of 2015, the total number of passengers of China’s mobile end travel service users was close to 400 million. According to the relevant person in charge of Didi, there are 1.35 million taxi drivers, 4 million car drivers, 5.50 million hitch drivers, and 1.50 million driver drivers on the Didi platform.
People in the Internet industry believe that the current number of private car drivers is very large, and the next step is to establish a smoother connection and coordination mechanism between online car-hailing companies and relevant government departments in order to respond to emergencies and maintain passenger safety. Didi said that it is working with the public security organs to establish a more complete and timely control system and detection linkage mechanism. "We will also further improve the driver safety and service credit system internally and strengthen safety measures for passengers to avoid similar incidents to the greatest extent."
Promote the top-level design of online car-hailing
In the context of the recent exposure of undesirable phenomena in the industry and even the occurrence of malignant safety incidents, many online car-hailing practitioners, experts and scholars have called for the introduction of the top-level design of the online car-hailing industry to ensure the safety of online car-hailing from the institutional level.
Teng Wuxiao, director of the Urban Public Safety Research Center at Fudan University, said the incident was a sudden criminal case. "Driving cars like Didi Chuxing is a fledgling industry, and there are deficiencies in system and review. The competent authorities should strengthen industry management, strictly supervise enterprises, and strengthen identity verification and registration of enterprises themselves. Strict requirements can reduce the occurrence of similar cases."
Many scholars interviewed believe that the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the Ministry of Public Security recently announced the abolition of the 98 version of the "Urban Taxi Management Measures", paving the way for deepening the reform of taxis and preparing for the introduction of new regulations on the management of online taxis.
Zheng Cai, head of the publicity section of the Shenzhen Municipal Transportation Commission, said that because there are still laws and regulations at the institutional level under the existing legal framework, the traffic commission is waiting for the introduction of the relevant system of online car-hailing by the Ministry of Transportation. In addition, the Shenzhen Municipal Traffic Commission recently conducted interviews with online car-hailing platforms to supervise rectification. "The traffic commission will use all means to strengthen the supervision of online car-hailing platforms under the existing legal framework."
Some experts also believe that from the perspective of passengers, especially single women, they should enhance their self-protection awareness as much as possible and choose a regular taxi company when traveling at night. In addition, they can call their relatives and friends when boarding the bus to report their location and vehicle profile, and constantly remind the driver that they are communicating with others, paying attention to the location of the vehicle, strengthening their awareness of preparedness, and strengthening their self-protection.