‘My heart was RACINGGGGGGGG.’
A woman says an Uber ride with two friends took an unsettling turn after they noticed what their driver was handling in the front seat.
Hannah Dubose (@hannah.dubose2) shared a story about her “crazy Uber” ride and the items that left her questioning what was going on.
Dubose says she and two friends ordered an Uber to dinner, with all three sitting in the backseat.
During the ride, they noticed the driver “messing with a bag of something,” Dubose says.
Dubose, who was sitting directly behind him, says she initially assumed it was “something normal.” Then, one of her friends got a better look at the bag—which contained zip ties.
Dubose included a photo of the bag in her video, which was labeled “Nylon Zip Ties.” She says the driver took the bag out and placed it on the passenger seat. Then, according to Dubose, he began messing with a “small rag” before putting that on the passenger seat as well.
That’s when her mind started going places.
Dubose says she wondered whether she was being too paranoid but began worrying that the rag could contain chloroform and that the driver might have nefarious intentions. There is nothing in the video showing that the rag actually contained chloroform or that the driver intended to harm anyone.
“Thankfully he didn’t,” Dubose says.
Still, the combination of items made her uncomfortable enough to wonder how she would have felt if she had taken the ride alone.
“Any normal person driving strangers, especially women, in your car, you probably shouldn’t have forms of containing someone and be actively messing with that,” she says.
As of this writing, her clip has around 1,100 views.
The zip ties and rag understandably made Dubose uneasy. But from the video, there’s no evidence either item was meant for her—or that the rag contained chloroform.
Chloroform is a real chemical that can affect the central nervous system when inhaled. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says exposure can cause dizziness, tiredness, headaches, and, at high enough levels, unconsciousness. But Dubose never saw or tested what was on the rag, so there’s no basis to say chloroform was actually involved in her ride.
What her story does raise is a more practical question: What should a rider do when something in the car makes them feel unsafe?
Uber says riders can open the Safety Toolkit from the app during a trip. From there, they can contact 911 through the in-app Emergency Button, discreetly report a safety concern to Uber, or call or text an ADT safety agent. Uber also says riders can report a problem while the trip is still happening.
Tools can also bring someone else into the loop—which can be especially useful for drivers taking a ride alone. Uber says its Share My Trip feature lets riders send their live trip status to trusted contacts in real time, while GPS tracking records the route. RideCheck can also prompt riders if the app detects something unusual, such as an unexpected stop or a trip going significantly off course.
And if the situation rises to an actual emergency, Uber’s own Community Guidelines tell riders to contact local authorities or emergency services before reporting the incident to the company.
None of those features mean Dubose was in danger that night. But riders also don’t have to know exactly what someone is doing—or prove that something dangerous is happening—before using the app’s safety tools if a ride starts making them uncomfortable.
The comments mostly fell into two camps: people who thought Dubose should report the driver to Uber and people who felt the situation was strange but not enough to assume the worst.
“Please report him on Uber. I am so tired of creepy men getting away with this. Please report him for the future women that could be alone with him,” one viewer wrote.
Another commenter said they had started using Uber’s woman-driver option.
“I been using the woman driver option… maybe he was getting it ready for next solo female scary where is this at?” they wrote.
Others were more skeptical.
“I was genuinely wondering when the crazy party was coming this whole video. This is like shmedium weird, but honestly I have zip ties and rags in my car too (I’m a realtor so for signs and [expletive]! zip ties are actually so clutch lol), but always better to be safe than sorry!! Just don’t think this is grounds for reporting him to Uber?” one person wrote.
Dubose pushed back on that.
“I don’t think it’s weird to have zip ties in your car except if you’re an Uber driver. To actively be opening and closing a bag of zip ties while driving women is just a bit sketch imo,” she replied.
Other viewers focused less on what the driver may have intended and more on how relieved they were that Dubose wasn’t alone.
“Thank GOD we were all together,” one commenter wrote.
“No it really is that scary!!” another added.
And one person offered a very different takeaway from the whole thing.
“This is why Waymo is superior,” they wrote.
Motor1 contacted Dubose via TikTok direct message and Uber through email. We’ll be sure to update this if they respond.
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– The Motor1.com Team