First Weekend With Uber in Montgomery

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Uber is now up and running in Montgomery.

Chris Murphy, Director Public Safety Montgomery said, “My biggest interest, as long as the police department’s is just that it’s safe and we have a good relationship with Uber or any other companies that come into the city.”

That relationship is important for investigators if something were to go wrong.

Murphy said, “Obviously it is hard to control who gets in Uber. But you would have had to have entered some information with Uber and credit card, those kinds of things. And we are not trying to poke into people’s lives so we are not normally going to ask for that. But, if there’s an ongoing investigation and it either stemmed around an Uber incident or they were in Uber just before a criminal act took place or things like that, they have assured us they will cooperate fully with us.”

Uber checks the drivers’ backgrounds, but police say safety’s also up to you.

Cpt. Al Wheeler, Montgomery Police Department said, “If you are by yourself, you want to stay on the opposite side of the vehicle from the driver. So you want to be in the backseat on the opposite side as far away from him as possible.”

Montgomery police say it’s also important to not get in a taxi or an Uber if there’s anyone else in the car with the driver. You can also send your ride information to a friend, so they can track your trip in real time. If you are not comfortable with the driver or the car at pickup, Uber says you can request a new vehicle at no charge.