What should have been a simple ride from Newark Airport to Lakewood turned into a nightmare, with a woman fearing for her life.
The frightening incident unfolded about 2 PM this afternoon when the woman came outside the Newark terminal, and walked over to what she thought was her Lyft ride.
“Are you my Lyft driver?” the woman asked the Arab-looking driver. When he responded in the affirmative, she got into the vehicle and the driver began driving.
When she realized she wasn’t being “paired” to her driver and she saw that she was further and further away from her ride, she asked what’s going on, to which the driver responded “I’m an Uber driver.”
“But I didn’t order an Uber,” she said, to which he responded that “we do it differently now.” He then said that at Uber they take only cash, and it goes by the meter. “Everything switched. You pay in cash.”
“I told him to stop, but he kept going,” the woman relayed to TLS. When he refused to stop, she says “I was yelling at him to pull over,” but to no avail.
“I was terrified of him,” the woman said, which prevented her from calling police while in his vehicle, though she phoned her husband when she convinced him she was calling him for cash.
After about 15 minutes of yelling at the driver, she finally got him to pull over at a rest stop on the NJ Turnpike, where he demanded $380 in cash, she said.
“I had $90 on me and said my husband will come and pay you,” she said. But at that point he jumped out of his vehicle and stood at her door, preventing her from getting out.
“I rolled down my window and started yelling “I’m getting kidnapped, he’s not letting me out of the car!””
The driver apparently got scared off by that, and allowed her out of the vehicle and threw her luggage out too. When she tried to get to the back of the vehicle to get a plate number, the driver jumped into the vehicle and started backing into her, and then sped off.
New Jersey State Police responded to the scene and took a report.
[TLS-28]
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If you’re going to use Lyft or Uber, that’s great. But understand how it works, the app tells you the license plate and shows you a picture of the driver.
And that is how NOT to use uber. There’s a reason they give you all the info b4 hand.
Super frightening…I always arrange for a drum taxi even if it’s more costly. I use the driver that took me to the airport and arrange for a pick up spot etc. Public taxis always scared me and being that I drive im lucky to rarely have to take one. My children never do either. I love them too much.
I am sure this woman was traumatized
I am only commenting to benefit the public.
There is one very simple way to verify that the car you are waiting for is yours and that is by checking the plate number on the car to the plate number on the car that is supposed to be arriving which is on your phone
You can also ask them their name which is also on your phone
May God watch over all of us
I would have dialed 911, with the phone on my side (of course not letting him realize), and repeat what’s going on, as if you are talking to the driver, “so you are going to kidnap me…”, and SAY YOUR LOCATION (so Police can hear and send help ASAP), for example: “so your going to take me now on the NJ TPK, and we’re going to pass Exit 13 without dropping me off?” and “I never knew a blue Chevy Impala is part of Ubber” (pretending you don’t know how Ubber works), or “you’re going to speed now on the left lane right past exit 12 or the Rest Area without letting me off”
a frum lady should never get into car w strange driver ever not uber or lyft or any of it its not safe
As was pointed out above. Uber allows you to verify that your in the correct car. Use it all the time, love it.