Woman Claims She Was Attacked By Uber Driver After Refusing Unsafe Dropoff
A Chicago woman is considering suing Uber after she claims a driver on the platform tried to force her out of the car at unsafe dropoff locations, a situation that she says eventually turned violent.
The passenger filmed the argument in the car during a ride in July, reports ABC 7. She says she started recording when the driver passed the destination she’d entered in the app, and he tried to drop her off at two different spots that were unsafe because they didn’t have sidewalks. He wanted to pick up another passenger, she claims.
“Well I’m going to pick up Kristen so I don’t know where you are going,” the driver is heard saying in the video, to which she responds that she’s going to be let off at a place where there are pedestrian sidewalks.
“You missed about 10 sidewalks,” the driver said.
In the video the driver is heard blaming the customer, telling her to “get off the phone” and pay attention to what she’s doing.
The two continued to argue, and the woman stopped filming in order to call 9-1-1. She says that was the moment he grabbed her phone and threw it across the road, shattering it. According to the police report, the driver pulled her out of the vehicle and slammed the car door on her legs several times.
“I thought I was going to lose my life. He began grabbing my arms aggressively. He started to kick me over and over violently in my knees,” she said.
Uber said the driver was immediately removed from the platform.
“We don’t tolerate this type of behavior and have permanently removed this driver’s access to Uber,” a spokeswoman told Consumerist, noting that drivers should refer to the company’s community guidelines laying out how Uber expects drivers and riders to behave when on the platform.
Despite that, the woman’s lawyer says he’s planning to file a lawsuit against the company.
Police said they will now watch the video and possibly issue a warrant.
In the meantime, the woman isn’t ready to get into an Uber again yet.
“It was the worst thing I’ve ever encountered,” she said.
VIDEO SHOWS HEATED DISPUTE BETWEEN UBER DRIVER, PASSENGER [ABC 7]
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