Yeah, worked very well. Delicious lunch and dinner every day.

what's to prevent users from getting stabbed

Don't think of it in comparison to driving your own car or taking a train – think of it in terms of its advantages over free-form hitch hiking.

We definitely want to make sure our users are safe. Check out our safety page (which is linked at the footer) with tips on how to rideshare safely: http://burningmanrides.com/safety

We're also always looking for suggestions on how we can make the experience safer and better for our users. Let us know what else we should do!

Stabbers have many better options for finding stabbees.

"People who can code in biology, medicine, government, sociology, physics, history, and mathematics are respected and can do amazing things to advance those disciplines."

Are you talking about anything in particular when you mention that? An example would really help your case here.