HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — In the wake of the murder of an Uber Eats driver in Pasco County and the kidnapping and sexual assault of a DoorDash driver in Hillsborough, rideshare and food delivery drivers are worried about their safety while working.
"I'm scared as hell," said Kalena Rios.
Rios lives and works in Pasco County. She delivers food in the same neighborhood where Randall Cooke was gruesomely murdered while delivering for Uber Eats.
"It could have been any of us," she said. "We put our life at risk delivering food. People don't understand that."
According to the U.S. Census, being a delivery driver is among the ten most dangerous jobs in the county. Thousands are injured or killed every year. The report from the census said due to traffic accidents or criminal activity,
"I always say be careful every time I see a person delivering because we never know."
So, how exactly do you protect yourself? Rios said she usually leaves her car running, drops the food off at the front door, and leaves. But, now she's thinking about getting more protection, like pepper spray.
"If you feel that your life is about to be harmed or taken, you've got to do everything you can to survive that situation," said Brian Anderson-Needham.
Anderson-Needham is a self-defense instructor and the co-creator of Weapon Brand. They provide self-defense classes for people in the Tampa Bay area, and they have classes specifically for food delivery and rideshare drivers.
He said he understands why some might want to arm themselves. However, he said you need to have the proper training. And the best weapon, according to Anderson-Needham, is your body and hands.
"These hands are weapons," he said. "That's what Weapon Brand stands for. We make you the weapon."
According to Anderson-Needham, you don't need to be skilled in trendy fighting techniques to protect yourself. Instead, you need to know how to hit the body's vital areas, like the eyes, throat, or groin. He said hitting those areas will give you a chance to get away from your attacker.
"Once they feel like they have to defend themselves, it's going to be a lot easier for you to escape," he said.
If you want to learn more about Weapon Brand, email them at Jamie@weaponbrand.com or go to their website.
ABC Action News reached out to both Uber and Doordash. As a result, both companies have made some safety changes for their employees. For example, Uber has added an emergency button feature to their driver app, and both companies use GPS tracking.
