Wingz provides specialized transportation — including non-emergency medical transportation and airport transportation — to riders who often depend on us for trust, care, and consistency. This page describes how drivers are expected to handle physical contact, communication, and one-on-one safety during a trip. It works alongside Wingz's Zero Tolerance Policies, which describe the conduct that results in immediate and permanent removal from the platform.
- What appropriate physical contact looks like during a trip
- How drivers may — and may not — contact riders
- How we keep riders safe when it's just them and the driver
- How to report a concern
1. What Appropriate Physical Contact Looks Like During a Trip
Some Wingz trips genuinely require a driver to make physical contact with a rider in order to complete the trip safely. A rider recovering from surgery may need a hand to steady themselves getting into the car. A rider using a wheelchair needs help securing it. A parent traveling with a young child needs the car seat properly installed. We don't ask drivers to avoid all contact — we ask them to keep it limited to what the situation actually requires, and to understand clearly where the line is.
Contact that is appropriate
- Offering a hand, arm, or shoulder for balance while a rider gets into or out of the vehicle
- Securing a wheelchair, walker, or other mobility device for transport
- Installing or securing a car seat, booster seat, or seatbelt
- Carrying or helping load luggage, mobility equipment, oxygen tanks, or other medical equipment
- A handshake or an open-palm greeting, when it's initiated or clearly welcomed by the rider
- In a genuine emergency, or to prevent an imminent safety risk, brief physical intervention necessary to protect the rider or others in the vehicle
Contact that is never appropriate
- Any touching of a sexual nature, or any touching of breasts, buttocks, groin, or genital area, under any circumstance whatsoever
- Hugging, kissing, or any prolonged physical contact that isn't necessary to complete the trip
- Touching that happens specifically because the driver and rider are alone, away from the presence of family, caregivers, or facility staff, unless it's a genuine emergency
- Contact a reasonable observer would describe as affectionate, romantic, or intimate rather than functional
- Photographing or recording a rider without their explicit consent
- Comments about a rider's body, appearance, or clothing that go beyond professional courtesy
- Any contact that is harmful, dangerous, unwanted, or threatening, or that impedes or blocks a rider's movement
Extra care for riders who may be more vulnerable
Because Wingz drivers regularly transport riders who depend on physical assistance — including elderly riders and riders with disabilities — and because any minor riders are always accompanied by a parent, guardian, or caregiver at pickup and drop-off, we ask drivers to apply the highest level of caution with these riders specifically. Wherever a parent, guardian, caregiver, or facility staff member is present, necessary physical assistance should happen in full view of that person, not out of sight.
2. How Drivers May — and May Not — Contact Riders
A ride is a service, not the start of a relationship. To keep that boundary clear and protect riders from being contacted outside of the trips Wingz has actually arranged, drivers are required to keep all contact within the scope of an active, platform-dispatched trip.
What's off-limits
- Contacting a rider by phone, text, social media, or email outside of an active, Wingz-dispatched trip — except to coordinate logistics of that specific trip through Wingz's own approved channels
- Asking for or accepting a rider's personal contact information for any reason unrelated to a Wingz-dispatched trip
- Arranging to meet or transport a rider outside of the Wingz app and dispatch system, even if the rider suggests it
- Visiting a rider's home, medical facility, or any other location when the driver hasn't been actively dispatched there
- Accepting any gifts, cash, or favors from a rider or their family
- Staying at a pickup or drop-off location, or extending a trip, longer than what's reasonably needed to complete the service
A note on recurring riders
Because Wingz specializes in medical transportation, some riders may be matched with the same driver repeatedly simply because of scheduling. That familiarity is a natural byproduct of recurring trips, but it does not loosen this policy in any way. Every interaction, no matter how many times a driver has taken the same rider, stays limited to the scope of the specific trip Wingz has dispatched. A driver may not use anything they've learned through repeat trips — a rider's address, schedule, medical routine, or family situation — for any purpose outside the platform. Drivers on the Wingz platform are expected to comply with all Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations concerning rider’s personal health information (PHI).
Minors
Wingz does not transport unaccompanied minors, under any circumstance. Whenever a minor is a passenger, a parent, guardian, or authorized caregiver is present at pickup, en-route, and drop-off. A driver may never arrange separate contact with a minor rider independent of that accompanying adult and the Wingz platform.
3. How We Keep Riders Safe When It's Just Them and the Driver
By the nature of ride transportation, most trips put one driver alone with one rider for the length of the trip. Rather than trying to eliminate that one-on-one setting — which isn't realistic for a rideshare service — we build safeguards into how the platform works, so that a rider is never truly "unaccounted for" during a trip.
What happens behind the scenes on every trip
- Every trip is logged and tracked by GPS from the moment it's dispatched through drop-off, creating a complete record of the route taken and how long the trip took
- Unexpected stops or deviations from the expected route are flagged for review by our safety team
- Riders and caregivers can reach Wingz support at any point during an active trip if something feels wrong
Screening before a driver ever gets on the road
Before a driver is activated on the Wingz platform, they go through a criminal background check, a review of their motor vehicle record, and a sex-offender registry check, and more. These aren't one-time boxes to check — drivers are re-screened on an ongoing basis throughout the time they're active on the platform.
What we expect from drivers during a trip
- Take the most direct, platform-suggested route unless there's a legitimate safety reason to deviate
- Keep any physical contact limited strictly to what's described in Section 1 above
- Never remain alone with a rider longer than it takes to complete pickup, transport, and drop-off
- Immediately notify Wingz support of any medical event, safety concern, or unusual incident that comes up during a trip
Extra attention for higher-risk trip types
For recurring medical transportation riders who may be non-verbal, cognitively impaired, or otherwise less able to describe a concern themselves, our team applies closer monitoring of driver-rider pairing patterns and any complaints that come in, and coordinates directly with the referring medical facility or the rider's family on pickup and drop-off arrangements.
4. How to Report a Concern
If you ever feel unsafe during a Wingz trip, or you want to raise a concern about a driver, a specific trip, or anything covered on this page, please contact Wingz Support as soon as you're able. You do not need to have all the details figured out before reaching out — even a general concern is worth telling us about, and we'll take it from there.
Wingz Support (888-545-4309 Option 2) or by email at nemtsupport@wingz.com
We review every report we receive, and we follow up directly with the person who raised it. Reports made in good faith will never result in any negative consequence for the rider, family member, or caregiver who raises it.