‘Chariot for Women’ Is the Uber Car Service Just for Women

After a terrible Uber ride, one former Uber driver and his wife have recreated the service with a catch: it is only for women.

Michael Pelletz and his wife have created Chariot for Women, an Uber-like service that will only give rides to female passengers and will only employ female drivers. The service aims to give female passengers a safe space and comfortable rides.

“Having thousands of passengers in my backseat, I heard stories about unsafe travel and Uber drivers hitting on women and just a lot of unsafe issues,” Pelletz told ABC News.

The idea for the service came pretty quick to Pelletz after having his first unsafe Uber ride. He picked up an “incoherently babbling behind his rolled-back eyes” passenger who clearly was not in the right state of mind. The passenger became violent and Pelletz luckily spotted some cops to help with the situation. After that ride, he knew something had to be done. It took only ten minutes for him to come up with an entire business plan, he shared on the company’s website.

The service will also cater to women with young children, moms with boys under the age of 13, and will also benefit the drivers. Gwen Pratt, a future employee for Chariot for Women shared “that having just women and children in her back seat will likely protect drivers too.”

“If I was picking up a man I know that he’s going to be a lot stronger than me and I would not feel comfortable,” Pratt said.

The service, which will work similar to Uber, plans to up the security. The driver and passenger will both share a unique password in order for the ride to begin. The new technology lets them focus on safe riding.

“Our technology eliminates nighttime street hails, allows riders to see their route in a map in the app, enables providing your estimated time of arrival and location, and eliminates the need for cash,” shared the company in a statement.

Other “women only” car services have launched in the past, yet have not had major success. SheTaxis, similar to Chariot for Women, was launched in New York City in 2014. The company had an overwhelming response, yet could not meet the demands and faced discrimination charges from men who claimed they couldn’t find rides. The company had to temporarily shut down, but plans to reopen soon under a new name, SheHails.

“You can’t limit hiring to just one gender,” employee law specialist, Joseph Sulman shared with ABC News. “From a public accommodation aspect, you can’t limit who you offer your services to just one gender.”

Chariot for Women doesn’t think that discrimination will impact their business and it is “well within the law.”

“We believe that giving women and their loved ones peace of mind is not only a public policy imperative, but serves an essential social interest,” the company’s lawyer explained to ABC News.

Chariot for Women is launching in Boston later this month and hopes to open in more cities soon. Check out more details in the video below and see more on their website and Facebook page.