Yahoo Finance 
Uber is launching its RideCheck safety feature in Australia this month, which prompts you if it detects something wrong during your trip
Rideshare company Uber is launching its RideCheck safety feature in Australia next Tuesday.
The feature provides tools that riders and drivers may need when something goes wrong during the trip, such as a car crash or an unusually long stop.
When a RideCheck is initiated, both the rider and driver get a notification asking if everything is OK.
Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.
Uber is launching its safety feature, RideCheck, around Australia on Tuesday 11 February.
The feature, which first launched in the US in 2018, proactively provides tools that riders and drivers may need when something goes wrong during a trip, whether it is a car crash or an unusually long stop.
When a RideCheck is initiated, both the rider and driver get a notification asking if everything is OK. They can then let Uber know through the app if everything is fine, use the emergency button, or report an issue to Uber's Safety support team.
"Since the first ride on the app nearly a decade ago, GPS has been the backbone of the Uber experience," Uber said in a statement. "Every trip is on the map, so we know where and when you’re riding and who’s behind the wheel. By using this data and other sensors in drivers’ smartphones, our technology can detect possible crashes or if a trip goes unusually off course."
The rideshare company is also working to include more scenarios which would activate RideCheck.
RideCheck adds to the safety features Uber already has, including the ability for riders and drivers to share details of their trip to family and friends, and an emergency assistance button available in the app.
Fellow rideshare company Ola launched a pilot safety feature in November 2019 called 'Guardian'. It uses machine learning to identify any “irregular vehicle activity” like unexpected deviations from a route or lengthy stops. It then flags this activity to a safety response team who contact the rider and driver to make sure they're both safe.
