- Welcome to The Newsfeed.

When it comes to safety in a rideshare, the focus is often on riders.

But drivers also face substantial safety concerns on the job.

Multimedia Journalist Jaelynn Grisso shares the stories of three families who continue to be impacted.

- Someone is coming behind me, and he hit my left shoulder and my back.

- Mohamed Omar had been driving for Uber for six years before a hit and run at the airport took him off the road earlier this year.

He was unloading his passengers luggage when another vehicle hit him and ran over his ankle.

- I got hurt a lot, especially for my left ankle.

But, I fall down on the trunk and the guy gets out from my car very fast.

Mohammad, what's what's going on?

What's happened?

I tell him this guy is hit me, and he try to yell to the guy to stop, but I think the guy doesn't see me.

- Nearly seven months later, he's still recovering.

I spoke with him and several others who were also impacted by violence on the job.

That includes Khadija Mohamed, whose husband was killed while driving in south Seattle.

- My husband was murdered by a random killer.

When I came, I found him.

You know, even I don't talk with him, you know?

He was just badly in ICU.

And I stayed with him for 12 days.

And then after that, I lost him.

He was a nice person.

Responsible for his family, for himself, too.

He was a good person.

- After his death, Mohamed discovered she didn't qualify for death benefits because he wasn't actively on a ride when he died.

She and the Drivers' Union advocated to expand the benefits for family members, which led to new legislation passing in Washington in 2024.

Another driver told me he was attacked while on a ride in Tukwila two years ago.

He had been pulling out of a parking spot when another driver thought they had a collision.

He said the cars never hit, but that didn't stop the other driver from striking him.

- I showed that I am trying just to show him.

He was in my back, and he punched me this, on my chest.

After that, I am hit and fall down like this on that asphalt and that ground.

- Both Omar and Demeke are receiving workers compensation from the state to help while they cannot work.

That's fairly novel, given Washington is one of the only states where rideshare drivers can qualify.

But for advocates like Mohamud Adan from the Drivers' Union, more needs to be done to keep both riders and drivers safe.

- So the current safety measurements that are there you know, could be improved because a lot of the time, what we have right now is not really proactive measurements to prevent safety incidents happening before it happens.

You know, example of that is a lack of you know, a hands-on training.

- Omar says he agrees.

- Uber, doesn't have, like, training for the driver.

There is a problem.

They're supposed to have training.

Like, if you apply for Amazon driver, you get like, at least, at least three weeks training.

But Uber not.

Just go to through to the application.

Put your information.

The background check takes like two days, three days maximum.

Take approved.

Go to the road.

But you didn't know who is the guy is driving.

You know what?

It is not safety.

- I'm Paris Jackson.

Thanks for watching our stories looking at the rideshare industry and its safety.

You can find our coverage at CascadePBS.org/TheNewsfeed.