China ride sharing company apologises for safety lapses

China ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing issued an apology Tuesday for a string of lapses that led to the rape and murder of a passenger last week, the second such killing this year.

The company has been slammed by observers, including China’s transport ministry, over safety lapses after a 20-year-old female passenger was raped and murdered by her driver in the eastern city of Wenzhou on Friday, barely three months after a similar incident in May.

Founder Cheng Wei and president Jean Liu apologised for their “ignorance and pride” in an emotive and lengthy note, promising an overhaul to ensure customer safety.

“Throughout the company we start to question if we are doing the right thing; or even whether we have the right values,” said the statement sent out Tuesday evening.

“There is an enormous amount of self-doubt, guilt and soul-searching.”

The company has admitted it bore responsibility for the crime, failing to act on a complaint about the same driver from another passenger.

In response to the fierce criticism that followed last week’s killing, Didi announced the suspension of its Hitch service, which links up commuters travelling in the same direction.

The company also said it would roll out an SOS button and offer an itinerary sharing function that allows users to share their journey with a chosen contact.

Friday’s murder follows the killing in May of a 21-year-old air stewardess by her driver as she was using the Hitch service. In 2016, a 24-year-old female passenger using the same service was robbed and murdered.

China’s transport ministry censured the company on Sunday, calling for it to improve its driver vetting and education processes, after the latest incident sparked furious online criticism of Didi.

The firm has dominated Chinese media headlines for days and the topic “female passenger killed on Didi Hitch” has been trending on the Weibo microblogging site.

Didi Chuxing-which muscled out Uber in 2016 after a bruising battle-says it has 30 million drivers and more than 550 million users across its various services.