This taxi/ride-share instructional video and personal safety article in our Situational Awareness series will give you skills to help prevent violence from happening to you or your loved ones.
The recent violence in the news that has happened to people hiring a rideshare like Uber and Lyft have been shocking to say the least. The latest 2018 Uber Safety report from Uber headquarters is released, and Beth Warford, the founder of Pretty Loaded, is quoted in the latest Consumer Report’s article here.
There are over 15 million rides in a taxi or ride-shares in a day and many people use this while they are traveling as well as at home. You need to know these following valuable tips because it will make all the difference in your safety. Take a moment and imagine the following scenario:
You are alone and traveling for work, and you need to take an Uber to get from your hotel to your dinner meeting. The Uber driver pulls up and instantly you get a weird feeling from the way the guy looks at you. You get in the car and start driving and it seems like forever to get to the restaurant. All of a sudden, the driver pulls over to an underground parking garage. You ask, “What is going on? What are you doing?” The car door doesn’t open. You panic…
What thoughts are going through your mind right now?
Is this situation something that you’ve considered yourself or talked about with your friends and loved ones?
Do you have a plan of action for situations like this?
If you answered “no” to either of the last two questions, what would you give at this moment to be able to jump into a time machine to go back and make sure you had a plan of action?
Now more than ever, each one of us must have some knowledge of self-defense to prevent violence from happening to us or our loved ones!
Evolution gives you three options: Fight, Flight, or Freeze. It’s up to you to decide which. People who have not had training will likely freeze when put in a stressful situation. This is NOT you because you are getting training right now.
What Can You Do TODAY?
Never take a rideshare if you are alone and under the influence of alcohol. This is the top factor for many that are robbed or raped.
If your intuition sends you a bad feeling about the driver when they arrive then immediately cancel the driver. Your intuition is your top safety skill and it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Track the route in advance on your phone so you know exactly where you are going. Say something to the driver if the route is different.
Make sure the child lock is not engaged on the door before you get in.
Keep your belongings next to you and do not put them in the trunk.
Sit directly behind the driver. If they have a gun or knife it is hard to point it at you. Sitting next to the driver offers them direct contact with you.
Pay attention the entire time you are in the taxi and look around. Use strong eye contact at all times since this sends a subconscious signal you are a fighter and research done on criminals proves that they avoid people that use strong eye contact.
Don’t share any important personal information with the driver.
We suggest traveling with a tool that you can use to protect yourself. If you don’t carry a tool on you then improvise and use whatever you can. A self- defense tool is a force multiplier and it can enhance the force you are able to provide in response to an attack. Whatever you choose to carry make sure you research it and “own” it. Know exactly how it works and practice with your tool. It is extremely important to have the tool(s) easily accessible when you need it and not at the bottom of your purse.
If for some reason the driver does pull into a questionable location and tries to harm you then fight. Do not be submissive or compliant at all and do the opposite of their orders. We suggest taking a martial arts class and learn how to fight because it will buy you split seconds or surprise your attacker and that can make all the difference so you can get away
The average encounter is over in 9 seconds while the police department is 10-15 minutes away.
Remember, you are the first responder!
I know all the violence can leave you feeling powerless and afraid, but this is not the way to live your life. “Owning” self-protection is a lifestyle, not a trend, and it is incredibly empowering to know how to protect yourself. The tips above will help keep you safe! Please share our blogs and videos to help empower more lives.
Look into our life saving online training if you want to gain more knowledge on situational awareness and personal safety training. We have trained thousands of people in our live events and our online training is used by law enforcement, corporations, the U.S. Court system, self-defense businesses, Universities and civilians worldwide.
Beth is the founder of Pretty Loaded. On a mission to install strength, awareness, and confidence, Beth began her journey as an educator and National speaker after a close encounter with a would-be predator. She has trained thousands of people in person, and through her online training and videos around the world. Her safety videos reach millions globally! She is responsible for starting the National Situational Awareness Day and this was approved by the registrar of the National Day Calendar. Beth has been featured on Consumer Reports, Reddit, Yahoo!Finance, Elite Readers, BuzzFeed, ViralNova, and many more networks. Beth loves spending her time reading, playing tennis, cooking, and painting. She is married and has four wonderful girls, a supermicro pig named Clover Smalls, and lives on an organic produce farm and vineyard.
