--- title: "A Shocking Number of Gig App Workers Were Murdered on the Job Last Year" description: "In 2022, dozens of app gig workers were killed on the job — and, for some reason, labor laws haven't caught up yet. " date: "2023-05-02" modified: "2023-05-02" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/gig-app-workers-killed-2022" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "lyft" - "rideshare" - "the digest" - "Uber" --- # A Shocking Number of Gig App Workers Were Murdered on the Job Last Year ![In 2022, dozens of app gig workers were killed on the job — and, for some reason, labor laws haven't caught up yet. ]() *\Image: Getty Images\* ## Unsafe Situations In 2022, dozens of app gig workers were killed on the job — and, for some reason, labor laws haven't caught up yet. A [new report]() by the advocacy organization Gig Workers Rising found that in 2022, a whopping 31 gig workers were murdered on the job, and as the group's analysis shows, the vast majority of those killed while working app-based gigs were rideshare drivers for companies like Uber and Lyft. Last year, the advocacy group released its [first-ever report](), which found that between 2017 and early 2022, more than 50 gig workers had been killed at work — and its updated total has found that that number is actually closer to 80. The report added that "while most workers murdered were not murdered by a passenger, those who were are mostly — 78 percent — people of color." The others, GWR adds, were killed "on their way to pick up a passenger or a delivery; at any point in the duration of a ride or delivery; or immediately after a ride or delivery, including on their way home." ## Going Backwards In spite of GWR's first report garnering headlines from the likes of [*NPR*](), [*The Guardian*](), the [*New York Times*](), and several [other]() [news]() [outlets](), labor policy has, like with all new tech issues, been slow to respond — and in some cases, has even been regressive. Earlier this year, a California [appeals court upheld the unpopular Proposition 22 ballot proposal]() from 2020, which allows companies to classify rideshare drivers as independent contractors and thus exempt from the basic protections enjoyed by regular employees. Labor advocates and [legal experts]() have argued from the start that laws like Prop 22 — which was drafted in response to another law that [would have expanded gig workers' rights]() — exempt workers from basic protections like [minimum wage requirements](), healthcare, and perhaps most saliently the same kind of safety standards that other employees are entitled to. To make matters worse, these exemptions also mean that, as GWR notes, the total number of people killed on app gigs is probably higher. "In nearly every state, app corporations are not required to report instances of violence, assault, workplace injury, or homicides to government agencies," the report notes, adding that the organization's analysis was gleaned "entirely on the public account." As Prop 22 has shown, the money behind ridesharing and other gig work-reliant apps has bent the ears of both voters and the courts — and until that changes, it seems like this trend will continue to rise. **More on the app dystopia:** [*Uber Deploying Robots to Replace Human Delivery Drivers*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()