On the morning of March 26, 2018, my colleague Yoolim Lee ordered a Grab ride in Singapore. Within hours, she was lying in hospital with a fractured vertebrae and a vertebral artery dissection.

Her story, published in the Jan. 19 edition of Bloomberg Businessweek, is the result of what happens when a deeply personal incident collides with journalistic curiosity. Lee’s tale also brings to the fore something about the ride-hailing industry that’s been sitting in the subconscious of many executives, regulators and consumers: What about safety?

Uber Technogies Inc. co-founder Travis Kalanick became famous for ignoring regulations in order to plow head first into new markets. The old ways, the thinking went, were outmoded. Traditional taxi operators were mere monopolies, and consumers deserved to have more choice and lower prices.