‘I jumped out': Virginia woman says Lyft ride took terrifying turn

An Arlington, Virginia, woman says she jumped out of a moving Lyft car after the driver refused to take her to her destination.

When Katlyn got into a Lyft Saturday afternoon, she said she quickly realized something was wrong.

"He actually almost hit the person in front of him, which, then I’m really on edge. Like, within a foot," she said.

She said the driver then put a different destination in his GPS that was away from where she was headed and he refused to answer her questions.

"He just ignores me, and I’m like, 'Sir, hello? Can you hear me?' and by this point I'm, like, close to him trying to look and see what he's doing from the back, and he's just ignoring me," Katlyn said. "I’m like screaming at this point frantic, because who just ignores someone like that?"

She said she then got a text from the Lyft app saying: “Just checking in. It looks like you’re not heading towards your destination. Tap the link if you need help.”

At one point, the car slowed down and Katlyn said she saw her chance.

"I was, like, I’m not about to find out where you plan on taking me," she said. "I just grabbed my things, started fumbling to unlock the door and I jumped out."

She said she reported the incident to Lyft and that they told her they were taking her concerns seriously. But the next day, Lyft deactivated her account, she said.

Katlyn received an email from Lyft saying the company deactivated her account due to “alleged safety violations” because she “jumped out of the car while the vehicle was in motion.”

"I’m like, 'What? I’m a victim here,'" she said. "It was so backwards. It made no sense to me."

She said she had to protest several times before Lyft finally restored her account.

Lyft also sent her a message that read in part: “This sort of behavior by a driver is completely unacceptable and is something we absolutely do not tolerate in the Lyft community. … Please know that the concerns you have brought to our attention have been investigated and I have personally followed up with this driver to take the appropriate and necessary actions.”

Katlyn’s tweets about the experience went viral and have been viewed more than two-and-a-half million times.

She said she's sharing the experience to try to prevent it from happening to other people.

"This is way beyond me. This is about women’s safety as a whole, and something more needs to be done," Katlyn said.

A spokesperson for Lyft gave the following statement:

"Safety is fundamental to Lyft. We take reports like this seriously and always work to take immediate and corrective action. Regrettably, our first response came up short, and therefore, we have reactivated the rider’s account and contacted her to offer our support. Since day one, we have worked hard to design policies and features that help protect both drivers and riders, and we are always looking for ways to make Lyft an even safer platform for our community."