A woman in Los Angeles is claiming that an Uber driver abducted her and drove her on a 20-mile detour. Uber is denying the allegation, stating that the woman was intoxicated at the time and requested for a long trip.
The passenger, who wished to remain anonymous when she spoke with news website Valleywag, said that she requested for an Uber car to drive her home last week after a party. The woman claimed that she was abducted by the driver, as she was trapped and locked inside the vehicle and was not allowed to get out.
After the woman protested and screamed, she said that the driver took her to the home address she listed upon requesting for the ride. The entire incident lasted for almost two hours.
When the woman contacted Uber the following day to inform the company about the abduction, she said that the company responded with an automated message apologizing for an "inefficient route" that the driver took, reimbursing some of the paid fare on that day and the entire, remaining fare the next day.
An attempted abduction resulting only in an apology for an inefficient route is suspect and could put Uber under a lot of pressure for its security protocols. The woman is understandably scared as the driver knows her home address, and so she is currently staying at a hotel.
Uber, on the other hand, is telling a different story regarding the incident, stating the passenger asked to be driven around the Los Angeles area, and the company is trying to contact her to find out more details regarding the incident.
"Early reports on this ride are inaccurate," said Eva Behrend, a spokeswoman for Uber.
"Based on the information we have at this time, this driver called 911 to ask for assistance with an intoxicated rider who requested an extended trip. However, we have refunded the rider's trip and reached out to the rider for additional information."
While it is still unclear which side is telling the truth, Uber drivers do have a history of such actions despite the company requiring its service drivers to undergo extensive background checks. There have been reports of Uber drivers involved in allegations of groping, sexual assault, physical assault and kidnapping.
Uber does not exactly have a clean image. In August, Operation SLOG was revealed, where the cutthroat strategies of the company to undermine competitors, particularly Lyft, were outlined.
