When you work as a driver for Lyft or other rideshare platforms, you have to deal with all sorts of people. Most of the time, passengers stay quiet and keep to themselves until they reach their destination. However, some passengers can be quite a handful. For one New York Lyft driver, this became painfully clear when he encountered a passenger who turned out to be extremely racist. The incident was shared on Reddit by ien71, whose brother was the driver. According to the post, the ride began with the passenger asking whether she could smoke in the car. The Lyft driver explained that smoking was not allowed, but when she asked about vaping, he said it was fine as long as she opened the window. At first, things seemed manageable, but the situation quickly escalated as the ride continued.
The New York woman then requested that the driver play music on YouTube Music. The driver explained that he could not operate the music while driving and waiting at a red light. This simple explanation apparently set her off. She became visibly upset, threatened to leave a negative review on Lyft, and began using both racist and rude language. She even threatened to call the police, and when she did, she started badmouthing the driver.
Throughout the ride, the Lyft driver repeatedly told the woman to get out of the car and cancel the ride, but she refused to comply. At one point, the argument escalated into shouting. The driver insisted she leave his car, yet she countered by telling him to leave, despite it being his vehicle. The situation deteriorated further when she accused him of trying to physically harm her and directed the N-word at him. They argued more, and she even told the driver to go back to his country.
With his patience fully tested, the Lyft driver eventually decided to drive the woman to the New York police station to resolve the matter. Internet users were both flabbergasted and appalled by the woman’s blatant racism and hypocrisy. Many were particularly shocked by the fact that she told the driver to go back to his country, despite it being obvious that she herself was a person of color.
“This pissed me the eff off. What a brat! And the audacity to say he doesn’t have manners. Bitch, you’re being rude AF for no reason. She should have been arrested for lying about the driver wanting to hit her,” one Redditor wrote.
Others expressed sympathy for the man who had been riding with her. He remained silent and visibly uncomfortable throughout the Lyft ride. “That guy is definitely regretting his decision to catch an Uber with her. Every time she tries to get validation from him, he’s either silent or goes ‘…yeah…,’” another user commented.
