Rideshare driver’s ‘scary’ airport act prompts Aussie woman’s warning: 'This isn't ok'
Many women have since come forward sharing similar instances.
An Aussie woman has shared her "shocking" ordeal with a rideshare driver after she accused him of forcing her to take an unregistered trip with him to earn more from the ride.
Young digital creator Emily Ward arrived at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport from the Gold Coast on Wednesday, March 13 to see her family and had booked a rideshare driver through her DiDi app to take her from the airport to the family home. Her driver confirmed and swiftly met her at the arrival bay, helping her load her luggage into the car.
While things began as normal, just as they began to pull out from the bay, Emily saw a notification alerting her that the driver had cancelled the ride she was sitting in. "I'm like, that can't be right, I'm in this man's car," she recalled.
The moment Emily felt 'unsafe' in her rideshare
After raising it with her driver, Emily says he tried to tell her she had likely accidentally pressed cancel on her phone, then followed up by saying there was likely a problem with the DiDi app. "He kept insisting it was something I must have done or the app messed up," she said.
"This is where I start to get really scared because right now all of my belongings are in this man's car, which he is trying to slowly edge out of the airport pick-up area — I'm by myself and now my ride isn't being tracked."
Emily shared the driver then tries to persuade her to remain in the ride because he "already" has her address and she is in his car, saying that she could cancel her new ride, stay with him and transfer the amount to him directly — an idea that made her extremely uncomfortable.
On this occasion, Emily said she was able to "convince" him to let her out of his car despite his insistence and attempts to make her feel "guilty" for not going with him.
"Even after [he let me out] he tried to guilt trip me he said, 'Oh, I've just been waiting for all this time to get this trip. Now I have to go leave the airport and come back around.' [But] I'm kinda like, not my problem, buddy. You cancelled the trip. I don't feel safe."
A 'common' tactic used by rideshare drivers
Soon after getting out, Emily says she saw the driver waiting in the bay before attempting the same thing with another passenger — noting he was likely trying to divert the rideshare app fee he would have to give up, and keep the entire fare for himself.
As well as this, since sharing her ordeal online a concerning number of women have come forward revealing they too have experienced similar behaviour from rideshare drivers.
"People have said this has happened to me in an Uber, this has happened to me in a taxi, this has happened to me on every rideshare platform," Emily told Yahoo. "It isn't isolated just to DiDi or Uber. It is something that is just happening."
Emily said she felt so "unaware in the moment that something like that would happen" and hopes that others — particularly women — in this situation aren't as "unaware" as she was, and know they "have the power" to say no and leave a vehicle if they feel "unsafe".
"If you don't feel safe, make sure you ask to get out of the car before the trip even starts," she urges. "Don't feel like you need to be guilt-tripped into staying in the car. It's absolutely your choice and you have the power in that dynamic."
Emily has since reported the incident to DiDi and Yahoo has reached out to them for comment, though has not yet received a response. DiDi has said previously that it only retains 15 per cent of the ride fare.
While the driver was not working for Uber at the time of the incident, Yahoo understands the company investigated the incident and took swift action on the driver's Uber account.
“Fraudulent activity, such as driver-partners encouraging riders to pay directly in exchange for a trip, is a clear breach of Uber’s Community Guidelines and this kind of behaviour can result in driver-partners permanently losing access to the app," a spokesperson told Yahoo.
"We encourage riders to report behaviour such as this through the app, so we can take action right away."
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Women share ways they try remain safe in rideshares
While many women shared their similar experiences, others gave advice on ways they remain safe and tracked by family when using taxis or rideshares.
"Life 360 is good for this. There’s an SOS alert function as well. My kids and I use it in case they find themselves in weird uncomfortable or unplanned situations," one said
"Have a tracking app you can share with trusted people in your life," another added.
A third suggested to use Shebah Rideshare instead as it only has "women drivers". "All have a police and working with children check," they said.
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