A mom has issued an urgent warning for people traveling with children in rideshares, after an Uber driver accidentally drove away with her young daughter still inside.
Mom-of-four Julia Viscomi shared her terrifying story in an a lengthy post on Facebook, declaring that ‘Uber chose policy over my daughter’s life.
As per the social media post, Viscomi’s five-year-old daughter Amelia had fallen asleep in the very back seat of the car last month, with Viscomi unable to get her out until the everyone else had exited the vehicle.
‘Our exit plan was communicated loudly and clearly right beside the driver,’ the shocked mom wrote in the post, adding: ‘There was no language barrier.’
However, after the Toronto-based family arrived at their destination, the driver took off with Amelia still inside – despite Viscomi verbalizing that she would be retrieving her daughter from the backseat after the other kids got out.
‘We called the Uber driver immediately, but the call couldn’t be connected,’ the frantic mother recalled.
‘We then called Uber in a panic. They refused to contact the driver. I begged them.’
The mom claimed that despite the police insisting on Uber contacting the driver, the company still refused to contact the driver.
Mom-of-four Julia Viscomi issued an urgent warning for people traveling with children in rideshares, after an Uber driver drove away with her young daughter still inside (stock image)
‘[They] repeatedly stated that to do so was “outside of their policy,”‘ she said in disbelief.
The mom added that it was 11pm and 26 degrees when Amelia was left in the car, and they were the driver’s last ride for the night.
‘Providing police with a recent photo (taken only that morning) of Amelia for, presumably, an Amber Alert, was the single worst experience of my entire life,’ she said.
‘Amelia was alone in the dark, with a stranger, terrified and confused upon the police finally tracking them down well over an hour later,’ the fuming mom continued.
To make matters worse, she said Uber’s response to the horrifying ordeal – which Viscomi declared a ‘horrifying failure’ – was to offer ‘an automated $10 credit.’
‘They refused to admit any failure of their systems, and refused to have internal discussions about policy change,’ she scathed.
‘Time was of the essence here. This was no time for bureaucratic red tape. Her life was in danger and Uber refused to help.’
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Uber said, ‘We recognize how distressing this situation was for the family involved and are thankful that the child was safely reunited with their parent.
shared her terrifying story in an a lengthy post on Facebook , declaring that ‘ Uber chose policy over my daughter’s life (stock image)
‘We immediately began reviewing the details of this incident internally to identify opportunities to improve our processes and support systems. The safety of everyone who uses Uber remains our top priority.’
The mom also slammed the driver for not completing a ‘basic post-ride check.’
‘The driver somehow did not realize a sleeping child was in his back seat for well over an hour,’ she raged.
Earlier this year, a disgruntled passenger sparked a fierce debate after they allegedly ordered an Uber to the airport – when the driver stopped to get gas en route to the destination.
Brandon Straka posted a series of tweets documenting the incident, where he claimed to have missed his flight due to the driver’s incompetence.
He also alleged that the driver was going in the wrong direction.
