The Hidden Danger in Your Next Rideshare: How Florida’s TNC Statute Puts Passengers at Risk

When you request a rideshare after a late night out, you probably believe you are making the safest choice. You check the license plate, verify the driver’s name, and get into the vehicle, trusting that the rideshare company has thoroughly vetted the person behind the wheel.

But if you are riding in Florida, you may be surprised to learn who is legally permitted to work as a rideshare driver under Florida law.

Due to shocking loopholes in Florida’s Transportation Network Company (TNC) statute, passengers can unknowingly be placed at risk by drivers with serious criminal histories—including individuals convicted of violent felonies.

The Five-Year Felony Loophole

The issue stems from Florida Statute § 627.748, which governs transportation network companies operating in the state. Unfortunately, Florida’s driver-disqualification standards are among the weakest in the country.

Under the statute, convicted felons—including those convicted of violent offenses—are generally disqualified from driving for a rideshare company only if the conviction occurred within the previous five years. In practical terms, a person convicted of a violent felony five years and one day ago may be eligible to drive passengers under Florida law. In effect, the statute functions as a “five-year reset button,” allowing individuals with histories of extreme violence to regain eligibility to transport unsuspecting passengers if they can make it five years without another conviction. This is true regardless of the number of prior felony convictions.

Even more concerning, an offender could spend the five-year period in prison and potentially become eligible to drive for a rideshare platform shortly after release.

What does this mean in practice? It means that once five years have passed since a conviction, individuals with lengthy criminal records or histories of extreme violence may legally qualify to transport passengers.

Aside from the relatively short waiting period, Florida law does not permanently prohibit individuals convicted of crimes such as:

• Murder
• Attempted Murder
• Kidnapping
• Armed Robbery
• Armed Burglary
• Stalking
• Domestic Violence
• Child Abuse
• Elder Abuse
• Aggravated Assault with a Firearm
• Manslaughter
• Firearms Offenses

Even repeat violent felony offenders may be eligible to drive passengers in Florida so long as they satisfy the statute’s waiting period requirements.

A Horrific Real-World Consequence

This is not merely a theoretical concern. The consequences can be devastating.

Because Florida’s standards are among the weakest in the nation, passengers have been sexually assaulted, attacked, and otherwise harmed by drivers with serious criminal histories who were permitted to access rideshare platforms.

For example, I represent a 20-year-old woman who went out with friends to celebrate her upcoming birthday. What should have been a fun evening ended in tragedy when she was brutally raped by her Uber driver—an eight-time convicted felon with a documented history of violence against women.

Before being approved as an Uber driver, the man had been convicted of armed burglary, robbing a woman at gunpoint, drug offenses involving cocaine and heroin, and multiple firearms-related crimes. He had also participated in a series of armed home invasions in which he and his co-defendants used a machine gun to force entry into homes, tie up the victims, and violently attack them.

Despite that extensive criminal history, he was deemed eligible to drive for Uber and was dispatched to pick up passengers, including young women traveling alone.

The driver ultimately raped my client and later pleaded guilty to three counts of Sexual Battery. He is currently serving a prison sentence in the Florida Department of Corrections.

Remarkably, the driver did not even possess a Florida driver’s license when he was granted access to the Uber platform and allowed to transport Florida residents.

Uber has maintained that it did nothing wrong because the driver’s approval did not violate Florida’s statutory requirements.

Perhaps most troubling, even after law enforcement contacted Uber immediately following the rape, the company allowed the driver to continue accepting rides for approximately a month.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. A simple search reveals numerous reports of rideshare passengers being sexually assaulted by drivers across the country, including:

• “Uber driver puts on mask, rapes passenger, Florida cops say. He’s sentenced to life.” — Miami Herald (January 2025)
• “Uber driver accused of sexually assaulting passenger in Miami, police say.” — CBS News (March 2025)
• “Uber driver sexually assaults 12-year-old rider, Texas cops say. ‘Monstrous behavior.'” — Miami Herald (July 2024)

Why Passengers Are Particularly Vulnerable

The risks associated with weak screening standards are amplified by the unique nature of rideshare services.

Passengers often enter rideshare vehicles alone, at night, in unfamiliar areas, or after consuming alcohol. Many riders are young adults, teens, women traveling by themselves, or individuals who are otherwise vulnerable.

Once a passenger enters the vehicle, the driver controls the environment. The interaction takes place in a confined, largely unsupervised setting where opportunities for intervention are limited.

That reality makes thorough driver screening one of the most important safety measures available.

In response to growing concerns over rideshare rapes and attacks, companies have introduced various in-app safety features designed to help passengers during emergencies. However, Safety features offer little protection when a passenger is intoxicated, lacks access to a working phone, or is already under attack.

The most effective safety measure is also the most obvious:  Prevent dangerous individuals from becoming rideshare drivers in the first place.

What Can Be Done?

Floridians deserve to know who may be behind the wheel when they request a ride.

Until lawmakers strengthen driver-eligibility standards and permanently disqualify individuals convicted of serious violent offenses from the rideshare industry, passengers should remain vigilant and carefully consider their transportation options.

The rideshare industry has transformed how people travel, but convenience should never come at the expense of public safety. Strengthening Florida’s screening and eligibility standards are critical safety measures that are necessary to protect passengers and prevent future tragedies.