Driver suspended for not helping woman on crutches speaks up for her, urges netizens to 'stop attacking her'

The Grab driver accused of not helping a woman with crutches has spoken out on Facebook, asking netizens to refrain from targeting that lady while sharing his side of the story. 

In a statement posted in the Facebook group PHV Community on Tuesday (Jan 10), the man, who was later suspended by Grab, said he hopes that "you guys stop attacking her". 

The 21-year-old woman had earlier called out this driver for wanting to charge her extra when she asked if he could pick her up at a different location.

She was subsequently criticised by netizens for publicising the matter and causing the driver to be suspended for 72 hours. 

In his social media post on Tuesday, the driver urges netizens to not use "social media as a weapon to harm or defame others". 

He later added that perhaps that passenger was "blinded by fame" for posting on TikTok where the video has gone viral.

"This incident has occurred. I don't really feel that the rider is at fault," he said.

"Give people a turning back chances (sic)".

Make her apologise

Many netizens, however, continued to voice their support for this man, with some indignant at how the passenger had dealt with the situation. One netizen even asked that she apologise to him. 

Others who were not as quick to point fingers acknowledged that both sides did not handle the situation properly and that such incidents are just shortcomings of working in the service sector.

The man then proceeded to share some of the problems he faces as a Grab driver, including impractical fares, the algorithm and the incentives that they are expected to hit among other things. 

He also acknowledges some of the problems that passengers face such as "unreasonable high fares", which he thinks is unfair to late-night shift workers.

Charged $5 surcharge 'for no reason'

In another incident, a woman took to TikTok to accuse a driver of "fleecing" her after he had missed a turn, and she was charged an additional $5 surcharge "for no reason".

The woman, who goes by Sara Teo, said that the driver "admitted that he got confused" and thought she had specified another lane number.

As the lanes near the destination were all one-way roads, the driver had to do a detour and he started to look "visibly annoyed".

Teo, however, wasn't upset and tried to navigate with him, but he was "pissed" and questioned why she could not get off at her current location.

When she finally got home, she noticed that she had been charged an additional $5 surcharge, which Grab attributed to being "been picked up slightly further from the pick-up point". 

However, she stated that she never changed the location.

"I literally stated clearly my pick-up point. I didn't change it or request to be picked up further," clarified Teo. 

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wongdaoen@asiaone.com

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