Uber claimed it would have “no choice” but to cease operations in Colorado should the state pass a new bill to bolster passenger safety.
Under the bill, HB25-1291, rideshare companies operating in Colorado would be required to perform regular background checks on drivers, initiate a driver review to potentially deactivate them when a complaint is filed, and ban drivers from offering food or drink to passengers. It would also mandate continuous audio recording of drivers beginning in 2026, with video recording coming later that year.
In a statement, Uber called the legislation “deeply flawed.”
“HB25-1291 is a deeply flawed proposal, which if implemented could leave us no choice but cease operations in Colorado. It threatens user privacy by requiring every trip to be recorded, imposes major technical and financial burdens, and offers no clear safety benefit in return. We support real, evidence-based safety policy — not legislation that checks a box but fails to deliver. As written, this bill not only misses the mark, it risks doing more harm than good,” the statement from Uber read.
The legislation was introduced by Democratic State Rep. Jenny Willford, who said she introduced it a month after she was sexually assaulted by a man pretending to be a Lyft driver.
“This legislation has been very personal to me,” Willford said. “I decided to use my own pain and the platform that I have to hold a company that has ignored survivors for far too long accountable, and what we saw today — them announcing that they’re going to leave — is them feeling that accountability for the first time in a very long time.”
Uber says it has been a leader in safety through measures it already has in place, such as “robust background checks and features like Audio and Video Recording, an Emergency Button, PIN verification, and RideCheck.”
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The company also says its customers can record all rides and that the app has an emergency button.
Uber also threatened to leave the Twin-Cities region last year after the Minneapolis City Council voted to create a pay floor for drivers. Uber and Lyft continued operations in Minnesota after state lawmakers passed a compromise bill on driver pay.