despite all signs pointing the other way
If you read the statistical "signs" they all say the cab driver is in far more peril than the passenger.
They quote you a price and try and charge you more
I drove cabs for 3yrs, never, ever, gave "quotes", I gave estimates but made it clear you were on the meter since half of what was on the meter wasn't mine to give away in the first place. Very rarely someone would give you a big bill to drive their elderly mum home, in those cases the meter wasn't switched on
The problem is boot sector or BIOS malware is now a real thing that needs real defences. It's not some obscure academic attack any more.
Boot sector attacks have been a malware vector since..well...forever, back in the DOS3.x days we had Norton disk doctor to remove them manually.
"police are searching for driver"
Apples to Orangutans - Uber don't have "walk ups", a fair comparison would be between Uber and a booked taxi.
Do Uber have hidden mics, panic buttons, and radio code words for trouble? Taxi's in Oz had all those things when I was a driver back in the 80's, nowadays they also have cameras. Everyone talks about passenger safety, the fact is drivers are at least an order of magnitude more likely to be attacked than the passenger.
"Don't try to outweird me, three-eyes. I get stranger things than you free with my breakfast cereal." - Zaphod Beeblebrox in "Hithiker's Guide to the Galaxy"