In a shocking turn of events, two individuals rented cars from Turo, a peer-to-peer car-sharing platform, and used them to commit acts of violence earlier this week. The first incident occurred when a military veteran driving a Ford F-150 Lightning drove into a crowd of people in New Orleans, killing at least 15 individuals. The second incident took place in Las Vegas, where an active-duty Green Beret rented a Tesla Cybertruck and allegedly blew it up in front of the Trump International Hotel.
Turo’s Response
Turo’s chief executive, Andre Haddad, released a statement on Friday, expressing his outrage over the misuse of their platform. He noted that Turo is working around the clock to determine how the perpetrators managed to exploit the system and what measures can be taken to prevent such incidents in the future.
How Could This Have Happened?
The question on everyone’s mind is: how could Turo or any similar platform have prevented this? Turo has been described as like Airbnb for cars, a platform where vehicle owners can rent out their cars for extra money or even as a full-time business. Many hosts rent out three or more vehicles on the platform at a time.
Turo claims to screen each renter through a proprietary multi-layer, data-science-based trust and safety algorithm called the Turo Risk Score. The company uses 50 internal and external data sources to build, maintain, and improve on that score. However, it’s unclear what this means in practice, and whether Turo performs normal criminal background checks.
Controversies Surrounding Turo
Over the years, some bad actors have managed to slip through the cracks, embroiling Turo in controversies after cars on its platform were found to be used for human and drug trafficking. Users who claim to be hosts regularly post on the Turo subreddit page about their cars being rented out to people with criminal histories.
The Perpetrators
Even if Turo’s background checks were foolproof, the two perpetrators of the crimes that happened this week had valid driver’s licenses, clean criminal backgrounds, and were decorated U.S. military servicemembers, according to Haddad. He noted that they could have boarded any plane, checked into any hotel, or rented a car or truck from any traditional vehicle rental chain without being flagged by anyone, including law enforcement.
Turo’s Response: What’s Next?
Haddad announced that Turo will be investing in improving its risk score algorithm and assembling a team of former law enforcement professionals to help assess future risk. The company is also consulting with national security and counterterrorism experts to learn more about how they can get even better and play their part in helping prevent anything like this from happening again.
The Numbers: Turo’s Track Record
Turo claims that it has facilitated 27 million trips over the past 12 years, and fewer than 0.10% have ended with a serious incident like a vehicle theft. While this may seem impressive, it raises questions about the effectiveness of Turo’s safety measures.
Conclusion
The recent incidents in New Orleans and Las Vegas have raised important questions about the safety and security of peer-to-peer car-sharing platforms like Turo. As the company works to improve its risk score algorithm and prevent similar incidents in the future, it’s clear that there is still much work to be done.
