LAKEWOOD (VINnews) — A group of Lakewood Rabbanim have released an urgent warning about potential dangers posed to the frum community, especially ladies and children, when riding in car services.
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The new campaign, apparently endorsed by multiple Rabbonim including Rav Simcha Bunim Cohen shlit’a, urges families to protect their daughters, spouses, and themselves when using ride services in the community.
According to reports, in addition to potential assaults, there have been confirmed cases of drivers offering illegal substances to yeshiva students.
The flyers, headlined “Lakewood Be Aware! Don’t Look Back With Regret,” highlights specific and basic guidelines.
One website listed the following safety recommendations:
1. Do not allow daughters to travel alone with male drivers
2. Exercise caution when your sons use car services
3. Whenever possible, arrange for female drivers
4. Consider group travel arrangements
PROPOSED SOLUTIONS:
- Monitored interior cameras in all service vehicles
- More female drivers
- Enhanced background checks
- Community-wide reporting system for incidents
The campaign states, “Not following these guidelines has destroyed our girls, destroyed relationships, and destroyed families.”
This initiative is signed by R’ Simcha Bunim Cohen, R’ Uri Deutsch, R’ Chaim Mayer Roth, R’ Avraham Spitzer, R’ Avraham Yeshaya Frand, and R’ Tzvi Elimelech Hershkowitz.
According to one report, the warning does not apply to Lakeway.
In addition, here is a statement from iRide:
“We are proud to say that iRide remains steadfast in delivering on our commitment to providing safe and reliable transportation to the greater Lakewood area. While we are aware of inappropriate incidents that have occurred elsewhere, we can confidently say they did not happen in any of our cars or with any of our drivers.
All of our drivers are individually interviewed, thoroughly vetted, over 21, Shomer Shabbos, and operate GPS-tracked vehicles.
Our loyal customers are a testament to our integrity, as they trust us and continue to choose our services.
We remain fully committed to prioritizing safety above all else.”
Let women drive. We arent Saudi Arabia
Where in halacha does it say that women are not permitted to drive a car? Someone made this up in the name of “tzinus” and hence we now have real problems.
Years ago, women drove and brought up a generation of fine Yidden. Is the current generation better because the women are not driving?
It’s time to concentrate on the real issues and not create unnecessary ones.
Women are not allowed to drive, but to ride in taxis with who knows what….. this was a danger all the time . Recently in monsey ( after too many horror) they finally buckled up and installed cameras and tracking in all taxis
This statement is long overdue. Why is more tzius for a woman not to drive than to have yichud with some unknown man? Not only yichud , but he can lock the doors and drive her anywhere .
I’m just here for the comments LOL.
A FEW FACTS;
this is a campaign basically accusing even frum drivers of bothering female passengers with some level of frequency its simply NOT TRUE
AHH you will tell me a shtikel story here or there, that doesnt pasul thousands of trips done safely. a yid learns to say NO,
ask your wife/daughter how many times has she been bothered in this way by a frum taxi driver, the answer will be next to never. you send your daughter to camp , cousins , work, tutor although at some point something may have happened
install cameras geziunterheit but dont accuse innocent with a wide brush.
response to some comments above
a mitzva not to instill excess fear in yidden
and even if a driver would ask a question or two u can politely end it a yid is trained to say no
4 this campaign is by a monsey based car service , who made a killing ,making panic and busting the goy car service , but dont make believe that yiddishe girls are being touched by goy drivers ( most inappropriate touching that has ever gone on is by ” UNZERE” ..
finally i dont need to melamed zechus on the “PAKI uber guys” they too dont bother us
THIS IS NOT A SMEAR CAMPAIGN as no
names are mentioned,
There is a reason some companies have
no vetting process and employ people
who are unmarried and are here illegally
from different countries and sadly many
only take these jobs so they can entrap a
young girl.
know of 3 stories and I’m one guy
Why do some companies have 0 vetting?
Why do they hire a specific segment of the
population? Who are the dispatchers? are
they sending specific boys to specific
addresses?
Those complicit shall close up shop and
those trying to do good, such as l-ride
shall up their game,
Monsey has live 24/6 monitoring of
cameras by a 3rd party
Call those with their names on the sheet
and ask them. Those in the know, know all
to well.
REALLY SAD.
Reply
Part of the problem is that drivers get the passengers cell number . I am personally aware of a case last week , of a Heimishe taxi driver in Boro Park texting a teenage girl a flirting message a day after giving her a ride.
Is this an ad for iRide?
Maybe label it as an ad….
Same campaign happened in Monsey, just before frum-owned companies suddenly started advertising all over the place, immediately available with tens of cars, for all the new business, ready to save the day.
Yes, one could be skeptical and point out that women and girls throughout the United States take these car services and there are no similar reports of “destroyed girls, destroyed relationships, and destroyed families.”
Why is this only supposedly happening within the Lakewood and Monsey frum communities and why would the police not know of these improper overtures?
Why would these incidents of destroyed girls, destroyed relationships, and destroyed families only be happening within the frum community?
If drivers are preying on passengers, why do they limit their preying to frum people?
Given the possibility that this might be nothing more than scare-mongering, either from frum-owned competitors or from chronic nudniks, I’m sure that the Rabbonnim who signed were not relying on anecdotes, but on a systematic analysis of all data, including police reports.
No way that they would write “Not following these guidelines has destroyed our girls, destroyed relationships, and destroyed families” unless they knew of actual names, verified all facts, and compared the number of verifiable incidents to the the hundreds of thousands of rides that were without incident, quantifying the risk.
And nowhere on that SAFETY list is “you shall wear a seatbelt”. How is that not on the list? Maybe It’s because it’s better not to wear one in case you have to get away really fast should the driver do anything nefarious.
This campaign is sponsored by an out of town car service company trying to break into the Lakewood market.
The problem in Boro Park is too horrific to talk about, but if it is being brought up, there is good reason to have it on the table as a serious community issue. The cross section of backgrounds among car service drivers is mind-boggling. Last week, a neighbor called a popular known car service and during a ‘longer’ ride was told by the man that he was from a middle-eastern country, not on friendly terms with the U.S., here now, trying to get a ‘green card’, (seemingly, in the country illegally) ! She was horrified, and cowered in the back seat until reaching her destination. Stuff for a horror story. BH, the ride ended, but not soon enough!
does nobody know hilchos yichud?
This is just another way to create a monopoly business. Now we will have “kosher car service”. This is not about women driving at all. Lakewood car service are all heimishe drivers. We always need to be aware and daven to Hashem that nothing bad should befall us.
Is Uber safe?