U.S. House passes sweeping rideshare safety bill in honor of fallen UofSC student

The bill requires all rideshare drivers to have illuminated lights and makes it illegal for non-rideshare drivers from using them

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WOLO) —The U.S. House of Representatives passed a sweeping rideshare safety bill in honor of Samantha Josephson, a University of South Carolina student who tragically lost her life in March 2019.

“Sami’s Law” (HR 4686) would require all rideshare drivers to have illuminated lights in their cars as well as federal oversight of rideshare practices.

On March 29, 2019, University of South Carolina senior Samantha Josephson got into a car she thought was her Uber in Five Points. The next morning, her body was found in Clarendon County.

For the last year, Samantha’s parents have been pushing for federal legislation on rideshare safety. On Wednesday, the bill moved one step closer to becoming law.

While talking with lawmakers for months, the Josephsons were also able to work on elements of the bill with both Uber and Lyft.

“We were able to bring to the table many different parties, we were able to have bipartisan agreement, we were able to bring two major competitors together to talk, so when you start putting all that together, it’s a pretty major accomplishment of having all the different parties work together,” said Seymour Josephson, Samantha’s father. 

The bill would require all rideshare drivers to have illuminated lights in their cars, and it would also make it illegal to sell similar lights to people trying to impersonate rideshare drivers.

It would also require Uber and Lyft to come up with a new code system that allows passengers a new way to identify their car and verify that it is indeed their driver before getting into the vehicle. The bill would also create a new council with the Department of Transportation to develop rideshare safety protocols and keep up with new technology while insuring passenger and driver safety.

Lawmakers say a driving force for pushing the bill forward was learning about rideshare safety from Mr. and Mrs. Josephson.

“Especially given the pain due to the unimaginable loss of their daughter, Seymour and Marci have been heroic, tenacious, and extraordinarily persuasive,” said Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the bill’s sponsor.

State Rep. Seth Rose (D-Richland County), who co-sponsored South Carolina’s version of the bill with Rep. Micah Caskey (R-Lexington County), says today only marks the beginning of federal action regarding rideshare safety, and it also does not close the book on local legislation.

“There’s more we can still do, and there is no magic pill, there’s no panacea legislation to make it so no tragedy ever happens, but what we try to do is respond and make things less likely to occur because of the laws in place,” Rep. Rose said.

Josephson says he and his wife will continue educating others about rideshare safety, and look into more laws that could keep passengers and drivers safe. He told ABC Columbia he’d be interested in seeing new laws about requiring rideshare drivers to have a front license plate. In South Carolina, Uber and Lyft drivers have their license plate number written on a piece of paper on their dashboard.

As the bill goes to the Senate, some lawmakers say they are going to keep fighting to honor Sami’s legacy.

“We must do everything we can to prevent what happened to Sami and so many others from happening to anyone else,” said Rep Tom Suozzi (D-NY).

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) also made remarks on the House floor, praising the Josephson family for their toughness while also applauding his colleagues from across the aisle for working together on bipartisan legislation.

In addition to South Carolina, states like New Jersey and North Carolina passed similar legislation honoring Josephson while promoting rideshare safety.