Woman Orders Uber Gets Into Wrong Car...Ends Up Dead
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I don't understand Uber/Lyft at all and why people use it. It's a complete enigma to me (especially because when I ask, I get a circular "because you just do!" kind of reply).
I’ve experience pained why in previous posts but I’ll do it again. When I was out of work and unable to drive before my back surgery, I was going to chiropractic and PT 3x/week. When I’d call the cab company early a.m. and say “I have 1pm appointment in such and such town (15 minutes to 25 depending on which I was going to that day) and ask for cab for 12:30, invariably the cab would be out there beeping horn at 12:05, and I ended up sitting at appointment in agonizing pain for an extra half hour. I also paid $50 round trip to Chiro before tip.
I couldn’t afford that, so tried Uber. With Uber I could just look at the app and see there are 7 drivers in my area within 10 minutes. So instead of being st the mercy of whenever they wanted to arrive, I could just wait and put in for Uber at 12:20, and no longer had to arrive and sit there in pain. I paid half the price with Uber than the cab, which was a huge deal as I was out of work and needed to go so frequently. The difference was hundreds of dollars a month.
Back in the days of going out to bars, I’d call for a cab at 2am and get “We are very busy now, we’ll be there in about 90 minutes”. That’s a long time to stand in a parking lot at 2am. Uber is there in 5 minutes.
I prefer Uber/Lyft to cabs because I have the ability to track the vehicle and know how long before it will arrive. I can watch its location real time on a map. I also know that they're not going to try to fleece me for a larger fare by driving me around in circles in a city I'm not familiar with because I can see the route on my phone as we're traveling.
Plus there's the advantage of not worrying about paying them. No need to pull out my wallet, count out cash or swipe a card and do the mental tip math in my head. It automatically goes to the credit card I have set up on my account (or PayPal if I prefer to go that route). I can add the tip later. It's also helpful when traveling for business, because the receipts automatically route to our expense system.
Yup. If there was an app for cabs that functioned exactly the way Uber/Lyft does, then maybe I'd get a cab instead. Uber/Lyft is just extremely convenient, easy to use, I can see how much the trip is going to cost before I schedule a ride, the drivers usually arrive within minutes (at least in my city) or you can specify a future time when you want to be picked up, and the payment is handled via the app. Also, I prefer to be discreet in certain situations and I don't necessarily want to be seen in a bright yellow cab. When I've gone on vacation and there were cabs just sitting outside the hotel waiting for someone to get in, I've taken one. But I've probably only been in a cab less than 5 times in my life whereas I've taken Uber/Lyft lots of times.
I don't understand Uber/Lyft at all and why people use it. It's a complete enigma to me (especially because when I ask, I get a circular "because you just do!" kind of reply).
Sounds like an inability to understand simple concepts on your part, like it's faster, easier, and cheaper.
I used to be one of those who never got Uber, mostly because I hardly ever used taxis.
But then I decided to try it one time when I needed to drop off a car at the repair shop and go to the car rental place. It was then that I realized how incredibly convenient the app was, and also how much fairer it seemed than a regular taxi where i never know if they were jacking up the price on those shady meters. You simply put in your origin and destination, and get a price upfront as well as the cars in your area. Everything is tracked and there's none of this nonsense where you call the taxi company and they never seem to have a taxi or it'll be two hours before they can send a ride.
Anyhow, back to the topic of why some people are stillwondering why someone like this unfortunate woman just got into the vehicle without checking anything (and blaming it on alcohol).
As has been said many many times already, quite a few people out there simply do NOT do even the most basics of safety checks, and this includes many young women. I guarantee you all, while there might be an initial wave of people who suddenly become vigilant about Uber rides due to this horrible crime, in time it will fade away and people will go back to their normal, carefree ways and not do any safety checks before getting in a car. That's just human nature with many people, that complacency.
Predators out there will always find a way to take advantage of people that are careless and way too trusting (or lazy). Has been that way for years and will continue. It's all a matter of numbers sadly. While there may be multiple women that do proper safety checks for Uber, all it takes is just that one person that will just get in a car without checking.
Izzy Moffroid, 19, is a freshman at George Washington University in the nation's capital. A month ago, she and two friends called a ride via Uber, a popular ride-share app, after going out for breakfast.
"My friend just opened the door and got in," Moffroid said.
The driver greeted the group as if he were their Uber driver. But, before getting into the car herself, Moffroid checked the license plate number on her app for the car that was supposed to pick up the group. She realized this wasn't the right car, even though the driver had said hello as if he was there for them.
"I told my friend 'That's not our Uber,'" Moffroid said. "I don't think it was an Uber at all."
And this:
Quote:
Seeran Enayet, 20, a sophomore at George Washington University studying anthropology, international affairs and Arabic, said the news about Josephson's death was scary because he has friends who get into Ubers without checking the driver's name or license plate "all the time."
"What really struck me is that things with ride-sharing seem very unsafe now, especially when I think of my female friends who go alone at night back to their dorms," Enayet said.
Yup. If there was an app for cabs that functioned exactly the way Uber/Lyft does, then maybe I'd get a cab instead. Uber/Lyft is just extremely convenient, easy to use, I can see how much the trip is going to cost before I schedule a ride, the drivers usually arrive within minutes (at least in my city) or you can specify a future time when you want to be picked up, and the payment is handled via the app. Also, I prefer to be discreet in certain situations and I don't necessarily want to be seen in a bright yellow cab. When I've gone on vacation and there were cabs just sitting outside the hotel waiting for someone to get in, I've taken one. But I've probably only been in a cab less than 5 times in my life whereas I've taken Uber/Lyft lots of times.
Yes I forgot about knowing the price upfront. I once took a cab from my home to bar two towns over. Charge was &18. After I get in different company cab assuming it would be similar. We get to my home and he says “That’ll be $35”. That can’t happen with Uber or Lyft.
What's also sad is that the scum that did it won't be held accountable.
I don't understand why getting into the wrong car would automatically mean death.
Wtf are you talking about? he's facing a murder charge, and what do you mean getting into the wrong car automatically means death? in most cases an oblivious Uber user like this victim would simply be told to get the hell out.
I don't understand Uber/Lyft at all and why people use it. It's a complete enigma to me (especially because when I ask, I get a circular "because you just do!" kind of reply).
While there are already many safeguards in place (knowing the model & color of car, license plate #, picture of driver) I wonder if Uber and Lyft could build in some kind of fail-safe, like a sound that would ring on the phone, or something that would have to sync between the rider and driver's phone, when the rider approached the correct car, or something.
I already check the current safeguards, but considering many riders are intoxicated, perhaps another layer would help to both protect riders as well as Uber's reputation.
I hate seeing Uber being bashed over incidents like this.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
