Tragedy struck twice on New Year’s Day, 2025. In one incident, a man drove a pickup truck through a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more. In the second, a 37-year-old man blew himself up in a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
While these events shocked the nation, they also posed a PR crisis for Turo, a peer-to-peer car rental platform through which the perpetrators of both incidents had procured their vehicles. Turo’s timely, multi-pronged response to the emergency offers several lessons in effective crisis communications for PR professionals.
Empathy Is the Foundation in Crisis
Empathy is the foundation upon which any crisis communication strategy should be built, and Turo’s response illustrated that key quality.
Notably, the company released an initial statement just a few hours after the incidents. This message began with condolences to the victims and their families, voicing the company’s sorrow and acknowledging the severity of these incidents.
Turo’s promptness in posting a statement even before all the facts were known did another important thing: it signaled its willingness to be transparent.
Transparency With the Public
By releasing a statement as quickly as possible, Turo’s leadership demonstrated engagement with the media and openness to accepting responsibility for any role the company may have played in the tragedies—key characteristics of effective crisis communications.
In another example of effective emergency response, Turo continued to issue updates on its website as law enforcement’s investigation and the company’s internal inquiries unfolded.
Turo’s CEO, Andre Haddad, also appeared on CNBC to express the company’s sadness and discuss the incidents. By making himself available to answer questions from the public, he demonstrated visible leadership and organizational accountability.
As PR professionals, one of the most critical parts of our jobs is ensuring that leadership is available to take questions from the media—especially the harder ones—and be prepared to answer them.
In the Turo case, the key message for company representatives to communicate was to explain what safety measures were already in place and how they would be strengthened in the future.
Willingness to Change
Through interviews and statements, Turo’s spokespeople have explained that, in the wake of these incidents, the company has engaged external national security experts to audit its operations and find ways to improve. This highlights the company’s apparent willingness to learn and change.
However, follow-through will be critical in earning back the public’s trust. A post-crisis report that summarizes the consultants’ findings and the visible changes they resulted in would clearly indicate that the organization has taken its responsibility seriously.
While some business leaders may hesitate to be this open with the public, such actions can transform crises into opportunities. Turo, for instance, could emerge from this process as a leader in the public discourse on the safety of peer-to-peer platforms.
Retaining the Public’s Trust During Tough Times
PR professionals can best serve others in a crisis by demonstrating empathy and compassion, telling the public the truth, and exhibiting their organization’s willingness to change and grow. This approach positions the organization to weather the difficulties, while retaining the public’s trust as much as possible. It can also open up opportunities for the organization to burnish its reputation from what might have initially appeared to be nothing but an unmitigated disaster.
Thomas Mustac is Otter PR's medical and health industry PR specialist.