An Uber Driver Allegedly Got High and Ripped Through a Closed Tunnel

According to stats released by the company last year, Uber averages one million rides per day—so it stands to reason that a few of them will go horribly awry.

That's what happened early Thursday morning, when an Uber driver taking two passengers from Midtown Manhattan to New Jersey blew past a "Do Not Enter" sign and drove into a lane of the Lincoln Tunnel that was closed for construction and occupied by workers at the time.

Gothamist spoke to the passengers, who said they told the driver repeatedly that he was going the wrong way and estimated that he was going at least 50 miles per hour, which is 15 mph over the tunnel's speed limit.

When the car came out at the other end of the tunnel, it was greeted by the cops. One of the passengers, a young woman named Cori, told Gothamist that the police came to the conclusion that the driver was "on something," though he wasn't drunk. But it doesn't look like the cops were able to prove this suspicion, as the driver was not charged with a DUI.

Of course, there have been far more disastrous Uber rides, with passengers who have been physically and sexually assaulted. Everything turned out okay for the passengers in the rogue Uber—they were refunded the cost of their trip and given a lift home by the cops, and no one was hurt.

But Cori told Gothamist that they got "kind of" a scolding from the officers, with the police telling them "you know you guys shouldn't be using Uber. They've been molesting a lot of women lately and robbing houses."

As for the driver, he was issued six traffic summonses, and according to a statement obtained by Gothamist, Uber has promised to "reeducate" him about their "expectations" before he is allowed to drive for them again.

As they parted ways, the driver implored the riders to not leave him a bad review. Says Jeff, the Uber's other passenger: "He turned to us and was like, 'Hey please don't write a bad review for me.' And we were just like, you have to be kidding."

"This should not have happened and the rider has received a full refund," an Uber spokesperson said. "Our team is also speaking with the driver to help ensure this type of driving error doesn't occur again."