Is it safe? About car sharing services like BlaBlaCar and Liftshare

Thousands of people safely use  car sharing services like Liftshare every day – we now facilitate over 1,000,000 trips every month! You never have to share a car with someone you dislike or don’t trust, and cashless payment can be made securely online.

For example, on Liftshare, we can see that as a passenger, Hari was given a five star rating by people he has travelled with, and that we have both his email address and phone number on record. Nothing is left to chance in our transparent community.

This year, liftsharing has seen a dramatic rise in popularity. It’s becoming quite the fashionable thing to do – a bit like the AirBnB of transport – and asking questions like “Is Bla Bla Car safe?” after you catch their TV ad or, “What’s Liftshare all about?” after you see us on Facebook is exactly the right thing to do. Let’s take a look at some of the considerations:

For starters, car sharing is not the same as hitchhiking. If you use a service like Liftshare, then you can read all about your drivers or passengers before you talk to them, then you can chat together on the site (just like you would on a social network) before deciding if you want to share a car with them. There’s also a record of when and where the lift happened. With Liftshare’s pin code system in place there’s even a private way to confirm the share has actually happened successfully; so you’re not ever paying for a journey that didn’t take place, for whatever reason.

Another key safety feature to look for is the ability to book ‘cashless rides’. This system allows all the money to be processed online, confirmed once the ride actually happens, and means neither the driver nor passengers has to carry money or be seen with it. Liftshare believes that cashless payment is a key part of safe sharing.

Liftshare is, at the time of writing, 18 years old and we’ve never had a single incident. We have a whole section of safety tips and we routinely discuss safety and security on the blog with our car share members. Check out this interview with Paul Wilde, founder of the Just Give It A Thought safety charity, for example. We’re also the first ever car sharing company to receive the Sharing Economy TrustSeal, demonstrating our commitment to excellence in safe sharing.

Sharing a car trip, whether with a service like Liftshare or GoCarShare – which offer both short-distance and long-distance journeys – or one like Bla Bla Car which specialise in long-distance journeys, is as safe as any other activity involving members of the public. In this respect, it’s the same as hiring private car drivers, sitting on a bus next to someone, taking the sleeper train or an activity day out.

If you’re still worried about whether ride-sharing is safe then please do get in touch with us, follow the blog for member stories or sign up and talk to our members.