An Arlington, Virginia, woman thought she was about to be kidnapped during a Lyft ride that she called one of the most terrifying experiences of her life.
Katlyn was headed just a few miles away to the middle of Northwest D.C. Saturday night when her Lyft driver started making wrong turns, the 29-year-old told WTOP’s partners at 7News.
“My heart was in my stomach, just racing,” Katlyn told 7News. “We are going the entirely wrong direction now. I am supposed to be going left. He is going right. I keep calling out to him, ‘Sir, this is actually left, not right.’ He’s not answering me.”
She even got a text from Lyft saying she was not heading in the right direction and asking if she would like to be called by a representative.
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-
— Katlyn Skye (@katlynskye24) June 19, 2023
When the car slowed down she decided to jump out of the moving vehicle.
“I decided to take it upon myself to jump out at that moment. I was not going to wait further and further from my destination to find out where he was taking me,” Katlyn told 7News.
Katlyn said she never received a call from Lyft and was actually notified by the ride sharing company that they deactivated her account for jumping out of the moving car.
She protested numerous times over the next few days and eventually her account was reactivated.
“I want to see some kind of action take place or new procedures that keep us safer,” Katlyn said.
In a statement to WTOP a Lyft spokesperson wrote:
“Safety is fundamental to Lyft. We take reports like this seriously and always work to take immediate and corrective action. Regrettably, our first response came up short, and therefore, we have reactivated the rider’s account and contacted her to offer our support. Since day one, we have worked hard to design policies and features that help protect both drivers and riders, and we are always looking for ways to make Lyft an even safer platform for our community.”
