On Saturday May 18, a woman in Washington DC named Donjay Wilkinson experienced a scare that left her in a state of shock. She escaped an Uber driver intent on not allowing her to leave his car. No charges were filed, but according to Wilkinson, the incident showed all the ear marks we caution riders to look out for.
When the Uber pulled up, Wilkinson says she felt uneasy because the car had paper tags that did not match the tag number indicated on the app. The photo did match the app, so she got in the backseat. Her intuition kicked in and she decided to check the locks on the doors. The doors weren’t working. Wilkinson asked the driver to let her out of the car. The driver didn’t respond.
Wilkinson climbed into the passenger seat and tried to open the front door. That didn’t work either. According the Wilkinson, the driver just stared at her. She realized her only option out of the car was through the driver’s door. She managed to escape over the driver and out his door. The driver remained on the scene and cooperated with the police according to the police report.
No action is being taken by local law enforcement. Wilkinson notified Uber through the app about the incident, but she was told that Uber would not be moving forward with an investigation. Wilkinson understands the importance of sharing her story. “It’s important for me to speak out because if no action is being taken, none of our voices is being heard, and it’s going to happen again,” she said.