Turo’s Dark Side: How Peer-to-Peer Car-Sharing Platforms Can Enable Violence

In a shocking turn of events, two individuals rented cars from Turo, a popular peer-to-peer car-sharing platform, and used them to commit acts of violence earlier this week. The first incident occurred when a military veteran driving a Ford F-150 Lightning intentionally drove into a crowd of people in New Orleans, resulting in the loss of at least 15 lives. Just hours later, an active-duty Green Beret rented a Tesla Cybertruck from Turo and parked it in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, the driver died by suicide after allegedly blowing up the car.

Turo’s Response: Outrage and Accountability

In response to these heinous crimes, Turo’s CEO, Andre Haddad, issued a statement expressing his outrage at how these individuals abused their platform. He noted that Turo is working around the clock to determine how this could have happened and what steps can be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.

However, as we delve deeper into the issue, it becomes clear that Turo’s reliance on its proprietary risk assessment algorithm may not be enough to prevent such tragedies. The company claims to use a "multi-layer, data-science-based trust and safety algorithm" called the Turo Risk Score, which is built using 50 internal and external data sources. But what exactly does this mean? Does Turo perform thorough background checks on its users, or do they rely on a more superficial evaluation?

The Vulnerabilities of Peer-to-Peer Car-Sharing Platforms

Turo’s model, like that of other peer-to-peer car-sharing platforms, relies heavily on the trust and safety measures implemented by the company. However, as we’ve seen in the past, these measures can be inadequate or even ineffective in preventing serious incidents.

Over the years, Turo has been embroiled in controversies surrounding the use of its platform for human trafficking and drug trafficking. Moreover, hosts have shared their concerns about renting out cars to individuals with questionable backgrounds on the Turo subreddit page.

**The Case