An Atlanta area woman says that she was left battered and bruised after after calling for a late night LYFT ride.
The young lady told Channel 2 Action News that she feared for her life as the driver seemed to take her on a suspicious route, and she was forced to jump out of the moving vehicle when he refused to stop.
Details below…
According to WSB, the passenger, who did not want to be identified, said her driver picked her and took her on a lengthy ride to nowhere.
Parking in Midtown and Downtown is a struggle on the weekends in Midtown and Downtown Atlanta, so it’s not uncommon for partygoers to park their cars for free in surrounding neighborhoods and use Uber or Lyft to their party destinations.
The woman was picked up on 14th Street and Howell Mill Road at around 2am Sunday. She’d parked in nearby Inman Park and sought a driver to take her back to her vehicle.
She said everything seemed normal until the driver started taking unexpected turns.
“When my intuition kicked in, I’ve got to save myself,” she said.
“My ride was supposed to be 10 to 15 minutes and I was in the car for close to 20 minutes and we were about seven to 10 minutes away.”
She said once they reached Ralph McGill Boulevard and Central Park Place, she knew she had to get out.
“I said, ‘Could you please pull the car over, I think I’m going to be sick,’” she said.
“I felt the car accelerate, once I felt that car accelerate, I flipped out of the car, back to belly, then again over my head. It knocked the breath out of me.”
Witnesses called 911 for her and she filed a report with Atlanta police.
“Anything could have happened to me,” she said.
The passenger suffered from road rash and an injured back but she said jumping may have saved her from real harm.
“I asked him to stop the car and he didn’t. For me, that right there signals I should not have been in that car,” she said.
Channel 2’s Matt Johnson contacted Lyft and a spokesperson sent the following statement:
“Safety is fundamental to Lyft. The behavior described is unacceptable and has no place in our community. We have permanently banned the driver and been in touch with the passenger to offer our support. We stand ready to assist law enforcement.”
For the record, the driver isn’t being named in the incident because he has not been charged with a crime.
In the future, the woman says she plans to monitor the GPS on her phone more closely when traveling with ride-share drivers.
Here are some additional key safety tips for using rideshare services like Uber and Lyft:
Wait for your ride indoors.
Confirm details when the car arrives.
Map your own route during the ride.
Don’t share private information with your driver.
Ride in the back seat.
Tell a friend where you’re going and who you’re with.
