Hong Kong-based logistics startup Lalamove came under a spotlight after a 23-year-old woman died after jumping out of a moving van she hired from the platform in Changsha, Hunan province.
A police investigation of the incident is underway. The driver of the van, a 38-year-old, was arrested on suspicion of negligence causing death, the Hunan provincial government said Tuesday.
The tragedy attracted public attention after an online post published by the victim’s family went viral during the weekend. According to the article, the young woman surnamed Che “jumped from the window” of the front passenger seat while the van was moving and was hit by passing traffic on the evening of Feb. 6. Che later died in a hospital of injuries. She hired the van from Lalamove’s ride-hailing platform, according to Che’s family members.
Che’s family members said in inquiries with the driver by police found that Che jumped out of the vehicle “by herself” after the driver veered off the route recommended by the app. Documents shown to Che’s family by police indicated that the van didn’t follow the commonly used route.
A social media user who claimed to be the deceased woman’s younger brother said earlier that the van driver was detained by police but was later released.
Lalamove, known as Huolala in Chinese, confirmed the woman’s death Sunday in a statement and said the company held talks with Che’s family on follow-up arrangements. Lalamove said police have yet to reach a conclusion and pledged to assist in the investigation. The police department didn’t publish details about the case.
Established in 2013, Lalamove is the largest platform matching intra-city cargo delivery service providers and users. The company raised more than $900 million with backing from investors including smartphone maker Xiaomi and Sequoia Capital China. The latest fundraising round of $515 million was completed in December.
At the end of November, the company operated in 352 Chinese mainland cities with 7.2 million monthly active users and 480,000 monthly active drivers on its platform.
The incident reignited public concerns over the safety of ride-hailing services. In 2018, Didi Chuxing, China’s top ride-sharing app, suspended its inter-city carpooling service following two murders of female passengers by platform drivers. Didi since launched a series of business shakeups and introduced safety measures including allowing passengers to contact the police directly via its app and making in-trip audio recordings compulsory before it resumed the carpooling service in late 2019.
Lalamove’s app doesn’t have functions to allow clients to make direct contact with police or make audio recordings during trips. Lalamove declined a Caixin request to review its internal driver management and safety guidelines.
“If the investigation concludes that Che’s jump was caused by the driver’s attempt to harass, the incident will be similar to the Didi cases,” said Zhang Dezhi, a lawyer at Beijing Fadian Hangjian Law Firm. If that is the case, the platform will be found accountable, Zhang said.
In August 2018, a Lalamove user complained she was insulted and threatened by a driver she hired on the platform. Lalamove dropped the driver and paid compensation to the user. In November that year, two clients were injured in a traffic incident. A court ordered Lalamove to pay compensation as the driver lacked necessary licenses to provide the service.
Contact reporter Han Wei ([email protected]) and editor Bob Simison ([email protected]).
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