When you request a ride, you are trusting that the company behind the app has already vetted the person who will pull up to the curb. That trust is not just a marketing promise. In Illinois, it is backed by a statute that spells out exactly what rideshare companies must verify before anyone is allowed to carry passengers. When a passenger is sexually assaulted, those requirements become a measuring stick for whether the company did its job.
There is no requirement that you reported the assault to police, and nobody needs to have been charged. A civil claim looks at the company's conduct: what it knew, what it should have known and what it did.
The Statute in Question
Illinois regulates rideshare companies through the Transportation Network Providers Act, 625 ILCS 57. The Act refers to companies like Uber and Lyft as transportation network companies, or TNCs, and it sets out what they must do before letting someone drive passengers through their apps.
Step One: The Application
Section 15 requires the company to collect an application from every prospective driver. That application must include the person's full legal name, Social Security number, address, date of birth, driver's license, driving history, vehicle registration and insurance.
Step Two: The Background Check
The company must run, or have a third party run, a local and national criminal history background check. That check must include a multi-state criminal records search and a search of the National Sex Offenders Registry database.
Step Three: Driving History
The company must also obtain and review a driving history report.
Who Is Barred From Driving
Section 15 lists people a company may not allow on its platform. They include anyone convicted within the past seven years of a sexual offense, an act of violence or driving under the influence; anyone who is a match in the National Sex Offenders Registry database; and anyone under 19.
Safeguards for the Passenger
The Act also requires the app to show the passenger a picture of the driver and the vehicle's license plate number before the passenger gets in. After the trip, the company must provide an electronic receipt listing the origin, destination, time and distance. These features exist so that riders can confirm they are getting into the right car with the right person, and so that every trip leaves a record.
How These Rules Shape a Claim
These requirements describe what the company was obligated to check. If a driver with a disqualifying record was active on the app, or if the person driving was not the person shown in the app, those facts point back to the company's own conduct. Claims are usually brought against the platform rather than only the driver, and negligent screening is the theory that most often carries them. Several theories commonly run together, and which fits depends on the facts.
Rideshare companies are private, so Illinois Tort Immunity rules for public bodies do not apply in the same way.
Local Rules Can Be Stricter
Section 32 of the Act sets a floor rather than a ceiling: cities may layer on tougher requirements, but they cannot be more lenient than the state. Chicago has done exactly that. A driver there must also hold a chauffeur license from the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, cannot be younger than 21 and is permanently ineligible if they have ever had to register under the Illinois Sex Offender Registration Act or a comparable law elsewhere. The city also treats eligibility as an ongoing condition rather than a one-time check, which means a driver who becomes ineligible after approval is supposed to come off the road.
What Records Can Show
The company's records can reveal when a driver was approved, what the background check returned, whether identity checks were done and whether other riders had already complained. Those records, along with the GPS trace and in-app messages, often form the backbone of a case.
Riders' Questions
The driver had a criminal record. Should the company have caught it? That depends on what the record was and when. Section 15 lists specific disqualifying convictions and requires a registry search.
I'm asking on behalf of my daughter. That is common, and it creates no obligation for her.
Can my identity stay private? Steps can be taken to protect it in the court record, and we explain them before filing.
Reaching Out
A call is simply a conversation. You will reach a person and will not be pressed for details. If you want us to look into it, we research for free which company was responsible, what its screening records show, what it knew and whether a claim can still be filed. We give you a straight answer and you decide. If you stop, nothing you shared leaves the firm. If you continue, we handle filings, deadlines, records and insurers, and can seek protections for your identity. Timing depends on the facts, so it helps to ask early.
Reach the Firm
Coplan + Crane partner Ervin Nevitt, licensed in Illinois since 2014, works from 60 W Randolph St, Suite 333, Chicago, IL 60601. Someone answers (708) 671-6858 at every hour.
RAINN offers free, confidential support at 1-800-656-4673, day or night. Call 911 if you are in danger. Speaking with RAINN has no effect on a legal claim.
Attorney advertising. This content is informational and does not constitute legal advice.
