was found dead last week in Columbia, South Carolina, allegedly murdered by a man she thought was her Uber driver, her relatives are calling on ride-share companies to improve safeguards.
Police believe the University of South Carolina student had been waiting for an Uber after a night out and got into the wrong car by mistake. Her body was found the next day, and Nathaniel David Rowland, 24, was arrested and charged with murder and kidnapping. At her funeral Wednesday, which was held at a synagogue in Princeton Junction, New Jersey, just outside her hometown, her cousin Seth Josephson asked that Uber and Lyft “provide safeguards to the mistakes that are easily made, the mistake that took Sami from us.”He also asked for passengers to be careful when getting into an Uber or Lyft and “first inquire from the driver that they are the rider, that they were supposed to be picked up.
“The family’s message that it hopes people, young adults for certain, take from this senseless killing of a wonderful girl is that the ride-share community — Uber and Lyft — learn from this and take ownership of the fortune made by their customers,” Seth Josephson said.
That's very sad... I don't Uber/Lyft - I taxi, but I thought you're given the license plate number, name & pic of driver in the app so you can match it to car/driver showing up, but maybe that's not available everywhere? It should be!
This woman dying was fucked up but it’s not Uber or Lyft’s fault/responsibility. If you’re gonna use these services then their needs to be some personal accountability involved - check the license plate, confirm your name with the driver, and confirm their name before you get in.
I mean....license plate...drivers name...verifying your name with the driver...make and model of car...a map showing you where the car is...I mean...I just don’t know what else could be done?
Sometimes license plate numbers aren’t listed. On the app it just says “NEW CAR”. Maybe you shouldn’t be an Uber/Lyft driver until you have plate numbers?
Uber and Lyft already list the make, model, color and drivers name in hopes youll check before getting in. Tragic as this is...them blaming ridesharing is ridiculous. The quote 'I felt like i was going to throw up'... if you feel that way,... uber/lyft isnt for you.
In a nation of 300 million-plus people, a nation built on violence, that's quite a tall order.