Updated with a statement from Uber.

The bill putting rideshare companies on notice about safety issues won preliminary approval from the Senate on Tuesday, but not without substantial changes sought by the industry that would prevent Uber leaving the state as threatened earlier in the debate process.

The bill will be up for a final vote on Wednesday, the session’s last day. If approved, it will return to the House for a review of the amendments.

This bill is not about one person, although it came from one person, said Sen. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, as she began the Senate debate on House Bill 1291. It’s about anyone who was sexually assaulted in a Lyft or Uber ride.

She read from the testimony of Rep. Jenny Willford, D-Northglenn, a co-sponsor of the measure.

Willford claims she took a Lyft ride a year ago and was allegedly sexually assaulted by the driver, who was not authorized to drive for Lyft and had “borrowed” the vehicle that was authorized for use by a Lyft driver.

Lyft did nothing to prevent the account sharing, Willford said. The company promised she would never be matched with that driver again and offered her a refund.

Winter said that according to Uber and Lyft’s safety numbers, there have been more than 15,000 sexual assaults reported between 2017 and 2022.

“We’re asking for safety to be baked in, not an afterthought,” Winter said.

The bill has been amended numerous times in its trip through the General Assembly, including by the Senate Business, Labor & Technology Committee on April 22. However, the day after that hearing, Uber said it would leave Colorado if the bill became law.

The sponsors of HB 1291 were ready with numerous amendments, most of which came from ride-share companies.

While Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, R-Monument, said he found Willford’s experience “horrifying” and a “tragic failure of humanity,” it doesn’t justify the change in law. “Hard cases make bad law,” he said. That’s the circumstances in front of the Senate: a terrible case and worthy of criminal legal action, and that’s the appropriate response, Lundeen explained.

More amendments came on Tuesday, most benefiting the rideshare companies.

The most substantial change was the requirement regarding audiovisual recordings, which was mandated in the version as it left the House.

Under an amendment adopted Tuesday, it becomes an opt-in option for both the driver and the rider. Winter noted that this was difficult for the victims’ rights groups.

That bill section was the “line in the sand,” said co-sponsor Sen. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge. A driver who plans to assault someone is not going to give away that evidence, she said. “We did not want to compromise” on this, she said, but they decided to accommodate the opponents to demonstrate a willingness to compromise.

Under the bill, a rideshare company is required to review a complaint against a driver within 72 hours; an amendment extended that to seven days, at the company’s request.

Another amendment states that a driver must notify the company within 48 hours of entering into a guilty plea that would disqualify them from driving. This removes the rideshare company’s liability if the driver doesn’t do that. Winter acknowledged that drivers would likely not self-report, but the company should not be liable for that.

Republicans also had their own amendments. One included an attempt to remove the second and subsequent background checks on drivers, which the bill would require every six months. Sen. Mark Baisley, R-Woodland Park, said it’s too onerous on the companies.

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, an Uber spokesperson said “Last-minute changes and a rushed process have made this legislation incredibly challenging. With new provisions added just this morning without the opportunity to review, we need time to thoroughly evaluate the bill to determine whether it is workable.”