Lyft has taken action after a 17-year-old Raleigh, N.C. girl was hospitalized due to jumping out of a moving Lyft car because the driver was making her “scared.”
Eziya Bowden was taking the Lyft home from work last week when she jumped out as it was still moving.
Now home safe, Bowden explained, “The driver made me feel unsafe and scared with his actions and questions.”
“I first started to feel alarmed by him when he made comments about my appearance,” the teen said. “Then he asked me, ‘How many boys flirted with you?’ Then he all of a sudden sprayed some stuff into the air.”
After the driver sprayed something, Bowden claims she felt dizzy and warm. That’s when she made the decision to jump from the moving car.
“Safety is fundamental to Lyft, and the behavior described is deeply concerning,” Lyft said in a statement. “We’ve been in touch with the rider’s family to offer our support, have removed the driver’s access to the Lyft platform, and stand ready to assist law enforcement with any investigation.”
Bowden, who said she doesn’t think she’ll ever take an Uber or Lyft again, said of the company’s response, “I don’t think that’s stopping him from anything else. It doesn’t really bring me peace at all.”
