Tens of thousands of drivers working for ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft will begin undergoing what Massachusetts officials say are the country's most stringent background checks.
The checks set to launch Friday will be overseen by the state and are designed in part to bar registered sex offenders from driving.
Under the agreement, Uber and Lyft will perform multi-state criminal and driving checks for each driver and will also check them against a national sex offender database.
Massachusetts officials will run each name through the state's criminal and sex offender registries and check each driver's record with the Registry of Motor Vehicles
Any driver who fails the check is disqualified.
A handful of ride-hailing drivers have been charged with rape, sexual assault, and assault with intent to murder in Massachusetts.
