Uber Brawl
Seb, 43, was calmly on his way to a meeting in Angel this morning when his journey took a strange turn. The CEO of media agency Exposure Digital told London24 that everything kicked off when he was “in three lanes of traffic with a lorry on the left hand side”. “A Toyota Prius tried to cut in and my driver was not giving way,” he explained. “Then my car clipped its wing mirror on the lorry.”
“The two cars didn’t even touch each other, that’s the stupid thing!” he added. Both cars then pulled over and the fracas began. Seb said: “My driver got out and ranted, then began to tussle with the other driver. “I think he was quite rude to through the window to the other car’s passenger who got involved with the altercation.” The video shows the three men yelling and the passenger, wearing a pink shirt, pushes Seb’s driver to the ground and thumps him repeatedly. At one point the three are locked in an awkward fight-embrace.
Seb posted a video of the punch-up to Twitter, writing: “When @Ubers collide! From left to right - passenger of other uber - his driver - my driver! Over a wing mirror!” Since he posted the video, which was taken on Goswell Road at the junction with Islington High Street around 9.15am, the video has been retweeted over 150 times. Would Seb get an Uber again? “The way my driver reacted was quite shocking to me. I was late for a meeting, we had had a collision, and he didn’t even ask if I was ok - I don’t know, I probably would use Uber again,” he said.
After leaving the Uber this morning Seb “used Hailo to get a black cab to get out of there” and was charged “a £10 minimum fare for a 300 metre journey”, which Uber are now going to refund. He saw a passerby stop, put his bag down and separate the three men before leaving - as can be seen in the video. “I did not feel threatened,” Seb said. “In my youth I would have jumped out, but no one was going to get killed in that fight so I stayed out of it. “It should not have happened,” he added.
An Uber spokesperson told London24: “Uber has a zero tolerance policy to violence from both riders and drivers on the platform. “We have reached out to those involved to get more information. With all incidents of a serious nature, it’s our policy to suspend all parties from the platform while we investigate.”
London 24 Image by Seb Bench