After reading a story about a girl who was almost trafficked after getting into the wrong Uber, I decided to share my own recent scary Uber experience.
A few weeks ago, my boyfriend and I went to a concert about half an hour from his place. When it ended it had gotten dark and it was getting late. After a long day, we were eager to get out of the cold and into bed.
So naturally, we called an Uber. We entered a clean car with a friendly driver and things seemed to be going normally...until he started driving.
Almost immediately I could feel something was off, so I looked out the front windshield and realized we were swerving, barely between the lines. Constantly. I watched the driver's arms move the wheel left and right, on a straight road. He decided it was necessary to slow down significantly for each pothole but wait until the last few seconds to stop for red lights and stop signs.
I gave my boyfriend a concerned look and he returned it with a confused one, so I opened the notes app on my phone and typed "Do you not notice him swerving like crazy?" "Nope", he typed back. He later told me that he responded in that way so I wouldn't freak out, but in the moment, I thought I was crazy for thinking that our driver was proceeding as dangerously as he was. If he was that bad at driving, he would have lost his Uber privileges by now, right?
I get car-sick fairly easily, so after a few minutes, I felt nauseous. I laid my head back and closed my eyes, trying to ease my stomach and my mind.
About halfway through the ride, I couldn't take it anymore. I realized he had to have noticed the horrible driving by now, so I mouthed to my boyfriend, "Should we get out?" He shook his head no, still frustratingly nonchalant. At that point, we were both thinking that sure, the driving was bad, but not quite dangerous enough to make him stop and wait in the cold for another car.
When we arrived at our destination our driver politely said goodbye, and we got out without a word. Or at least I did, not sure if my boyfriend did the same...as soon as the car stopped, I jumped out as quickly as I could.
We talked about what happened, not sure if we made the right decision, but happy to be safe and out if the car. We reported him to Uber for unsafe driving, hoping he'd be off the road soon and went on with our night.
Did we do the right thing? I still don't know. My belief holds true that the driving wasn't quite bad enough to stop the ride, but should we have just to be safe? Maybe. In frightening, surprising situations like that, it's hard to think clearly.
As kids, we're told not to even talk to strangers, let alone get in a car with them. Ride-sharing has been rapidly normalized, and now it's something we don't even think twice about and expect to be safe. For the most part, they are...but there's only so much background checks and ratings can do.
I've lived in Philadelphia for almost a year and a half, and ride-sharing is a typical mode of transportation for me. That won't change any time soon, but I'll definitely be more careful from now on, and I hope after reading this you consider doing the same.
