Thread by @katlynskye24

On Saturday, June 17, I was on a Lyft ride in Washington, D.C. that made me fear for my safety.

My driver missed numerous turns, prolonging my ride. In the midst of D.C. traffic, he almost hits a car and slams on his breaks, stopping about a foot from the car in front of him-

I’m very annoyed at this point and say “Are you okay today?” His driving as a whole was very shaky and distracted.

We continue driving and I notice he navigates off the Lyft platform to input an address into his own GPS.

I noticed and pulled up my requested destination into my GPS and watched as he took me in the opposite direction.

I was notified via text by Lyft that I was not heading towards my destination with a link included in case I needed help.

I called out to my driver numerous times that he was taking me the wrong way. He ignored me. “My turn is left not right” “Sir, you’re going the wrong way” “Hello, sir?!”

I finally said “Hello can you hear me?” Screaming at this point. In response he laughed and said “Sorry, I don’t speak English” He did, in fact, speak English and had been the entire car ride.

At that point I’m panicking and decided to unlock the car door to try and jump out as he was turning a corner at a slower speed.

He began breaking and I jumped out of the car and started running in the opposite direction to where I knew I was supposed to be headed.

I walked the rest of the way as I did not want to get back in another car with a stranger.

I went to my texts and opened the link Lyft provided me where I briefly recanted the events and requested them call me. It said I’d receive a call within 5 minutes.

Times passes and I finally arrive to my location. I’m wondering where my call is and pull up the app where I see numerous messages from Lyft. No call.

They appear to take my problem seriously, file a report, and issue a refund.

I continue on with my day. The next day, I wake up to the following email from Lyft, deactivating my account.

I’m extremely upset at this point, now feeling that Lyft did not understand my experience and all of their messages about valuing my safety as I filed the report was bullshit.

I replied to the email and asked how this could happen as I was the one fearing I was being kidnapped.

I wake up today to this email

I have since replied asking what Lyft suggests I should have done in that scenario.

I have heard nothing about my driver and his current status with Lyft.

Please share this story.

In a world where women are kidnapped daily and there is a rise in human trafficking, a person in this situation should be HEARD, not punished.

I wanted to publicly share what happened so women remember to be alert in these instances.

I will not be quiet and let my story be dismissed by Lyft. Our safety concerns as women should be VALUED.

@ABC @CNN @CBSNews @ARLnowDOTcom @DCNewsNow @nbcwashington @fox5dc @7NewsDC @wusa9 @DMVFollowers @davidrisher

UPDATE: In response to me asking Lyft what they suggest I should have done, they replied with this-

1. From my understanding and experience, this isn’t launched yet and I had no access to this. So it still doesn’t answer my question.

2. Far emotional and physical damage could be done by the time the police track and locate the vehicle.

I want to thank everybody for your kind words, your engagement with this story. None of this would have been recognized without you all.

I’m trying to respond to everyone’s outreach and I will be in touch. Thank you immensely.

As of this morning, I received a call from Erica at Lyft. Here is her follow up email-

For clarification, I did not know I had access to this ADT assistance at the time. I was panicking and wish that was presented to me clearly in the text from Lyft.

I have received many messages from other women that have experienced similar situations. If you would like a safe space with someone to talk to, I am here to listen ❤️

I will also help you get your story heard if you would like. My DMs are open.

My story is now on @fox5dc @nbcwashington @DCNewsNow and later tonight on @7NewsDC. Thank you for hearing me 🙏🏼