Uber driver shut down for taking disabled husband along on rides
By Brendan Tierney
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MURFREESBORO, Tennessee (WSMV) — A Middle Tennessee Uber driver said her account was shut down because she started taking her husband along on rides for extra safety.
For the past year and a half, Felicia Wade has walked out to her car every afternoon to drive for the rideshare app. She leaves her Murfreesboro home to take people all over Middle Tennessee to help make ends meet after her husband had a stroke and had to stop working.
This week, Wade got a notification her account was deactivated because riders complained about her husband being in the passenger seat. Uber said that violates their community guidelines that state, “no one other than the driver, the requesting rider, and the rider’s guests should be in the vehicle.”
“Out of the thousand and something rides that I’ve had, I’ve had two complaints,” Wade said about her husband being in the car. “What’s wrong with that?”
Wade said she is constantly hearing stories of drivers being harassed or attacked. Just last week a passenger was shot and killed in Nashville after police said he attempted to rob a driver.
She feels more comfortable with her husband being in the car to watch what the passengers are doing so she can focus on the road.
“No complaints about my driving, no complaints from anything from the customers. I’ve always got the customer where they need to go, and I always got good tips,” Wade said. “But for some reason, because my husband is in there for my safety, they decided to deactivate it.”
An Uber spokesperson said Wade received multiple warnings about the issue, including reminders that she could lose access to the platform for violating the community guidelines.
Wade told WSMV4 she knew she was breaking the rules but said there needs to be ways for drivers to protect themselves because they are not allowed to carry weapons.
She is now planning to deliver food to support her family. Uber said its support team is working to ensure Wade gets all of the money she had earned on her account.
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