Hello! My sister, Kristen, and I experienced some travel turmoil when we were in New Orleans because our flight home got cancelled. However, that wasn’t the only incident of the day as we had an incredibly not okay Uber ride when we wanted to go to the Garden District. When we first arrived in NOLA, we opted for the “women driver only” option on Uber and that made us feel a lot more secure in a brand new city. However, I didn’t remind my sister to select that option again when we went to the Garden District as I thought it was an automatic setting. We ended up having a driver that made some highly inappropriate comments and drove like an absolute mad man. We’re talking swerving, we’re talking speeding, we’re talking running over curbs/sidewalks, and almost getting into several accidents. It was VERY scary.

After this experience, we were left with literal heart palpitations as we made our way through the Garden District and then the punches kept coming shortly after with the cancellation of our flight. We were blessedly able to catch a plane home the following day after many, many delays! That morning we, of course, selected the women driver only option and had the coolest lady ever get us to the airport. We talked to her about our ride from the previous day and she shared some very good advice that I wanted to pass on to all of you. This is information that you never want to need but it’s so important to have a safety plan no matter the situation:

When we told her about our ride, we mentioned that we honestly didn’t know what to say to get ourselves out of the car and were too scared to say pull over. And, in the moment, our minds were blank to come up with anything at all. So, she gave us an alternative. Our driver said if we find ourselves in a situation like that, start bringing up food, drink, and bathrooms. IE: Oh is that a Wendy’s? Can you actually drop us off here? I’m feeling a little nauseous. Or: A gas station! I could use some Gatorade, I feel queasy after all the walking we did. These are perfectly valid, common statements and no one wants someone getting sick in their car. AND you will be in a public area where people will have eyes on you. As soon as the coast is clear – report, report, report the driver.

Our driver then went on to say that she has a safety plan in place for herself too. If she ever feels uncomfortable when providing rides, she pulls over to the most public area she sees first. She then gets out of the car and begins to walk towards a crowd of people. Eventually, the person she is driving figures it out and exits the vehicle. And, should they have anything to say, she is surrounded by people. Once again, as soon as the coast is clear – report, report, report the rider.

I am SO appreciative to our driver for sharing this advice because it was so smart and simple enough to stay with you. If you use Uber often, have a safety plan and a backup one too because you really just never know.

What are some of your rideshare or travel safety tips? Have you had an experience similar to ours before? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah