Crisis lessons from Turo’s response to New Year’s Day attacks

On New Year’s Day, vehicles were used in two high-profile incidents. In New Orleans, a man driving a pickup truck purposefully drove into a Bourbon Street party, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more. In Las Vegas, a Tesla Cybertruck stuffed with explosives and fireworks blew up outside the Trump International Hotel, leaving its driver dead in an incident being investigated as an act of terror.

The FBI has not found a direct link between the incidents. But one brand name has become indelibly linked with both: Turo. The peer-to-peer car rental company provided the vehicles used in both attacks. Overnight, the somewhat obscure organization was thrust into the national spotlight due to an incident they did not cause, but which they needed to immediately address.

Turo began a comprehensive communications strategy, including multiple postings on their website and media appearances by their CEO to express sorrow, explain their security measures and what will change in the future. Bradley Akubuiro, partner at Bully Pulpit International and an adjunct professor at Northwestern University, walked PR Daily through their strategy so far and what other organizations can learn from their timely response.

Transparency and humanity

The day of the attacks, Turo released its first statement, this one unsigned, that laid out what was known and what was unknown. It began and ended by expressing “shock and sadness” and “devastation” over the attacks, as well as solidarity with the families of victims. It continued to explain their current understanding of the situation:

Our trust and safety team is actively partnering with law enforcement authorities to share any information that could be helpful in their investigations. We do not believe that either renter had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat, and we are not currently aware of any information that indicates the two incidents are related. 

“The statement was a strong statement,” Akubuiro said. While Turo is not a client of Bully Pulpit International, Akubuiro is a veteran crisis communicator, including a stint as chief spokesperson and head of global media relations for Boeing. “If you follow the model of transparency right out of the gate, you’ve got to identify the fact that you are not only aware of the situation, but acknowledge your link in it.”

While Akubuiro noted some criticized Turo for not responding quickly enough with their initial statement, he praised the statement’s “humility and humanity.”

“They showed not only remorse, but care for those who were impacted, but then quickly moved from there into really dictating all of the ways that one, they’re working to make the app safe, and have traditionally worked to make the app safe, but two, that they were going to be working hand-in-hand with authorities to ensure they could get to the bottom of what happened in these instances and apply that to anything they may need to change about their own approach moving forward.”

Continuing updates

Two days later, on Jan. 3, Turo CEO Andre Haddad appeared in an 11-minute interview on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” to lay out the situation, explain Turo’s security protocols and highlight their ongoing attention to the tragedy.

Beginning the interview with clear sympathy for the victims, he quickly moved into his company’s role in the events.

“Both individuals who rented trucks on Turo, in New Orleans and Las Vegas, were individuals with clean criminal backgrounds,” he said, slowly and carefully. “They had valid U.S. driver’s licenses – in fact, they were decorated servicemen. They could have boarded any flight, they could have rented any other car in any traditional car rental chain, they could have checked into any hotel. There were no red flags. No one would have flagged them as a security risk.”

Simultaneously, Haddad is positioning this as a freak accident, with lightning just happening to strike Turo twice, in a way that’s believable and full of gravitas.

“He really came across as a person who was getting out and trying to help the broader public understand the situation and also demystify any misconceptions they may have about peer-to-peer car sharing generally or Turo specifically, so that people could actually be more informed and understand,” Akubuiro said.

At the same time, Turo posted a second statement, this one signed by Haddad, laying out similar points. It is the emotion that makes this statement notable, as well as the additional information it provides about next steps. At times, Haddad refers to “tense, mournful hours” spent working with investigators; he refers to himself as “shocked, saddened, and, more than anything else, just simply heartbroken,” and later as “outraged.” He ends the missive with the simple, “2025 is off to an awful start.” The language is deeply humanizing, and when coupled with his CNBC interview, paints Haddad – and by extension, Turo – as an empathetic company truly grappling with its role.

Even amidst these emotional pops, the statement is as unequivocal as Haddad was in the interview: no one, including law enforcement, would have flagged these renters, he said. Echoing statements made on CNBC, he emphasizes Turo’s safety record with specific figures (only 0.1% of rentals include a “serious incident) and explains their security measures. But even while firmly stating the platform’s safety, he also acknowledges they will continue to improve.

Despite this strong track record, and as an immediate next step while we wait for law enforcement to conclude their investigations, we’re consulting with national security and counterterrorism experts to learn more about how we can get even better and play our part in helping prevent anything like this from happening ever again.

What to learn from Turo’s response

Above all, Turo’s response succeeded, Akubuiro said, because it was “extraordinarily transparent.”

“In these situations, people are looking for answers,” he said.  “The intensity can be pretty fierce, but at the same time, when you think about it through the perspective of those who are questioning, those who are raising their concerns, it’s because they’re scared. People are afraid. They want answers that will help them feel better about the risks that they take in operating in daily life. And if you can’t give them answers that provide them with not only comfort but clarity, then you will lose their trust pretty quickly.”

Allison Carter is editorial director of PR Daily and Ragan.com. Follow her on LinkedIn.