Uber passenger drives himself home because driver is too drunk
An Uber passenger has had a ride he’ll never forget after driving himself home when he allegedly discovered his driver was drunk.
Surya Oruganti claimed he booked the Uber after arriving at India’s Kempegowda International Airport, but once inside the vehicle he discovered the male motorist ‘drunk and drowsy’.
He decided to take matters into his own hands and proceeded to drive himself home over 30km after moving the driver from behind the wheel.
The passenger documented the bizarre incident on Twitter, sharing footage and images of the driver asleep in the passenger seat.
“The ride back from Bangalore airport was not quite what I expected,” he wrote on Twitter on September 9.
“The driver was drunk and drowsy. I had to pull the car over to the side and I drove all the way home.”
Mr Oruganti also claims the man’s identity did not match with the driver the app claimed picked him up.
He tagged Uber India in his post urging the company to “fix this” as it is a “serious safety issue”.
Uber responded to Mr Oruganti’s post saying their safety team was addressing the incident.
The company told Indian news site The News Minute that the driver had been removed from their database.
“This is a regrettable and concerning incident,” an Uber spokesperson said.
“While we take all possible measures to ensure that drivers behind the wheel match the person shown on the app, in rare instances, when this doesn’t happen, we encourage riders to cancel their rides immediately and report the issue on the app.
@Uber_India, the ride back from Bangalore airport was not quite what I expected. The driver was drunk and drowsy. I had to pull the car over to the side and I drove all the way home. Pic with the driver in the rider seat passed out.
You need to fix this @Uber , @Uber_Support pic.twitter.com/G7LB0caeTM— Surya Oruganti (@suryaoruganti) September 9, 2018
“Upon learning about this incident, the driver profile was removed from the app and we are looking into the matter.”
Yahoo7 News has contacted Uber for comment on the incident.
It’s not the first time an Uber driver has been accused of behaving inappropriately.
In April, a university professor claims her driver locked the vehicle’s doors before trying to take her to a hotel.