A woman shared her terrifying experience with a Lyft driver who took her on a 45-minute detour away from her destination. Writer Kelly Barnhill recounted her harrowing story on Thursday in a now-viral tweet thread that’s received over 8,500 retweets as of Friday morning. She described the realization that her driver was taking her away from her destination to a more remote location outside of Houston, Texas, after she arrived on a flight. What should have been a 40-minute cab ride, turned into an hour-and-a-half journey. Throughout the entire experience, Barnhill wrote, she was trying to de-escalate the situation by talking about her kids and her job ― hoping that her story would humanize her and the driver would not harm her. “The safety of our community is Lyft’s top priority,” a Lyft spokesperson said in a statement to HuffPost in response to Barnhill’s story. “The behavior described is troubling and unacceptable. Upon becoming aware of the allegations we initiated an investigation, deactivated the driver, and reached out to the passenger to express our support. We stand ready to assist law enforcement with any investigations into this incident.”

Happy Thursday, my dears and my darlings. Earlier this week I vaguely mentioned a scary thing that happened while on a Lyft ride. I have reported it, and all these days (and multiple messages) later, @lyft has not reached out. So I am going to tell my story here. Right now. https://t.co/udndG3vUsr — A witch, probably. (@kellybarnhill) May 9, 2019

Barnhill wrote that she arrived at the Houston airport on Sunday night and decided to order a Lyft instead of taking public transportation. She described her driver as a “youngish, handsome” man who picked her up around 7:30 p.m. Barnhill noted that she didn’t initially feel uncomfortable getting into his car, but that comfort quickly faded when the driver turned off the Lyft app, complaining of the app’s bad directions. She chose to ignore it, attributing his actions to the fact that most ride share apps do give bad directions.

The first thing he did was complain that the directions that the app gives him were "not the best way". I told him I have had similar gripes with google maps - always favoring packed freeways over zippy, pretty parkways. I ignore it a lot. — A witch, probably. (@kellybarnhill) May 9, 2019

I didn't realize that he was actually telling me that he was intending to go off-route. I didn't realize that he was actually telling me that he was intending to turn the app off. But he did do both of those things. He asked if he could stop for gas. "Fine," I said, and meant it. — A witch, probably. (@kellybarnhill) May 9, 2019

As we left the gas station, I peeked at the app. It said we would arrive at the hotel at 8:11. We chatted about his family, what brought him to Houston, his other jobs. He told me I had pretty eyes. "Thanks," I said, and changed the subject. He said it again. I clammed up. — A witch, probably. (@kellybarnhill) May 9, 2019

I decided to do email tasks on my phone. I noticed that the app now said that we would arrive at 8:15. Then, quickly 8:20. And then again, 8:25. "Are we going the right way?" I asked. It didn't look like it. "Yes," he said. "Houston traffic is terrible. We'll miss it" — A witch, probably. (@kellybarnhill) May 9, 2019

At this point, Barnhill tweeted that the driver again complimented her eyes, but she pretended not to hear him. “It was getting dark. I didn’t realize that we were headed in the opposite direction of the city. It was getting darker,” she wrote, adding that she wasn’t paying attention to where they were because she was writing an email. When she tried to send the email, however, she realized she no longer had phone service. It was at that moment she realized she could be in real danger.

It was getting dark. I didn't realize that we were headed in the opposite direction of the city. It was getting darker. I wasn't paying attention, focusing on trying to sound smart in an email using the tiny keyboard on my phone. I kept my eyes down. — A witch, probably. (@kellybarnhill) May 9, 2019

Finally, I finished my email and hit send. But it didn't send. I checked the app. It said that it couldn't find service. I tried calling my husband, but my cell was out of range. Outside, I could see no city lights, no buildings, no nothing. Just an empty sweep of land and cows. — A witch, probably. (@kellybarnhill) May 9, 2019

"Are we going the right way?" I asked.

"Just relax," he said. "I know what I'm doing."

"Oh," I said. We were travelling at around ninety miles an hour. "Houston traffic?" I said.

"Yes. Houston traffic." — A witch, probably. (@kellybarnhill) May 9, 2019

Lyft’s website advises riders to either call the company or demand to be let out of the car in situations like these. But, Barnhill wrote, she had zero service and she didn’t want to make the driver angry and escalate an already precarious situation.

According to Lyft's website, what one is supposed to do in these situations is demand to be let off. (Apparently, there is a call for help button too, but that doesn't help you if your phone doesn't work. And I can't see how it would help while going 90 on a lonely Texas road). — A witch, probably. (@kellybarnhill) May 9, 2019

Like probably half of you, I was raised a girl. And one of the things we learn while being raised a girl is how to keep the peace. How to keep the tone light and airy even if our hearts are pounding. How to keep the man in your presence from getting angry, or escalating. — A witch, probably. (@kellybarnhill) May 9, 2019

So I made pleasant conversation. I talked about my kids. I talked about how much I do for them. How much they need me. I did this in an unemotional way. I did this to humanize myself. I did this because I was scared out of my mind that I didn't know where this man was taking me. — A witch, probably. (@kellybarnhill) May 9, 2019

Barnhill wrote that she tried to humanize herself by talking about her children and how much they need her. “I did this to humanize myself,” she added. “I did this because I was scared out of my mind that I didn’t know where this man was taking me.” Then she started making up stories just to fill the space. As a writer, Barnhill noted, she makes up stories all the time ― so that’s what she did. She discussed a fake job and her annoying fake co-workers. She even said that her fake boss is so controlling that he needs to know where she is at all times. Finally, the driver said the traffic had probably subsided and “made a hard turn” to head back in the direction of her hotel. “I have no idea where we were. All I know is that it was 8:40 by this time. I had been in the car for over an hour,” she tweeted.

He told me that the traffic was probably low enough by now to take the freeway, and we made a hard turn. I have no idea where we were. All I know is that it was 8:40 by this time. I had been in the car for over an hour. — A witch, probably. (@kellybarnhill) May 9, 2019

At 8:45 I had bars. I called my husband. I pretended he was my boss. I told him I'd be back at the hotel at - I asked the driver what time. "Nine", he said.



"Nine," I said to my husband. "I will skype you at nine. I promise I won't be late." I forced the shake out of my voice. — A witch, probably. (@kellybarnhill) May 9, 2019

I know I should have called the police. The ONLY THING I wanted was to get out of that car. The ONLY THING I wanted was to prevent the situation from escalating. I was in full hostess mode. Anticipating reactions. Smoothing wrinkles. Keeping the edges neat. — A witch, probably. (@kellybarnhill) May 9, 2019

We arrived.

"Thank you," I said. "Thank you so much." My hands shook. I dropped my phone. My legs wobbled. I turned around and went into the hotel and did not look back. — A witch, probably. (@kellybarnhill) May 9, 2019

When she finally arrived at her hotel, Barnhill wrote that she realized the ride that should have cost her $30 cost her $94. “In some ways, this was a good thing: fear could now be replaced with anger. Anger is useful,” she wrote. “Now, there are two possibilities: Either I was in the car for ninety minutes with a predator and it’s a miracle I got out of there unscathed,” Barnhill added. “OR. I was in the car for ninety minutes with a criminal knucklehead who wanted to bilk me into paying the higher fare.” Either way, she wrote, both options are unacceptable and “atrocious.”

But here's the thing: as I sat in the back of that car, as I watched the world get dark and the land stretch away on either side of the road, I realized that it isn't that I'm vulnerable right now (though I was). We're vulnerable EVERY TIME. — A witch, probably. (@kellybarnhill) May 9, 2019

Extractive capitalism, as it turns out, cares little about the safety of customers and cares even less for the dignity and safety and contributions of the workers that keep the whole system afloat. I'm mad about what happened to me. I'm mad about the whole damn thing. — A witch, probably. (@kellybarnhill) May 9, 2019

Barnhill wrote that only after her tweet thread gained some traction did Lyft respond to her complaints. Lyft banned the driver and refunded Barnhill her money on Thursday afternoon. Sexual harassment and assault is a very real threat for women and trans people who choose to use ride-sharing apps like Lyft and Uber. In October, a Miami Uber driver admitted to raping a 26-year-old unconscious passenger, telling police that it was a “perk” of the job. Just a few days later, a New York Uber driver was charged with kidnapping and assaulting a female rider. In November, a Boston Uber driver was charged with raping an unconscious female passenger. Twitter users reacted to Barnhill’s story by sharing their own accounts of sexual harassment and misconduct they experienced while driving in a ride share.

This entire thread. I had a terrifying @lyft experience ending in demanded to be let out of a car while the driver kept it locked. Lyft did nothing. As more stories like this pour out, they still don’t do anything unless called out publically. Fix yourself, lyft. https://t.co/ER8KL7PLs6 — kelsey (@kizzels) May 9, 2019

My wife once jumped out of a moving car at 50MPH because the guy took her way out of the way, onto a dark stretch of freeway, kept making terrifying comments, & wouldn’t let her out. He finally unlocked the door & said “Go ahead, you crazy bitch,” and so she did. She nearly died. — The Tweets of Ren™️ (@SvengaliPhantom) May 9, 2019

A similar thing happened to me, and Lyft would only block the driver from matching me. 😐



Being a woman means constantly evaluating your safety, while making your captor feel safe, because your safety is *tied to their ego.*@KellyBarnhill’s story is too many of our stories. https://t.co/C0GvwxcYO6 — Tatiana Mac (@TatianaTMac) May 9, 2019

One of my scary incidents using rideshare also involved a man who took me further and further away from my home— and I live here so I knew. I got charged double the fare. @Uber refunded me the difference but the feeling of helplessness was awful. — Aisha Saeed (@aishacs) May 9, 2019

When I was 18 and new to Vancouver I missed my last connecting bus. I had a @BCTransit driver offer to drive me home. He stopped somewhere on the side of the road on the highway and told me to show him my breasts or he'd kick me out of his car... — Apocalypse 'humans deserve climate change' Nyet (@ApocalypseNyet) May 10, 2019

Thank you. You are (clearly) so not alone.



An Uber driver hit on me aggressively, took a detour on an unlit road, told me that, “Now I know where you are staying and I will be able to find you.”



I only use professional cabs.

No ride share apps, never again. — Dee Flowered (@DeeFlowered) May 10, 2019