Woman claims San Francisco Uber driver terrified her

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- An Uber ride turned into a terrifying ordeal for a South Bay woman who says the experience left her fearing for her life. ABC7 News looked into what happened and how company officials are responding.

Los Gatos resident Vikki Pachera says she had the worst Uber experience ever on Tuesday afternoon.

"I've always been really supportive of the company, but they can't have drivers like that. People can't be put into that situation," Pachera said.

She requested an Uber ride to get from Potrero Hill to the 4th and King Caltrain station -- a drive that should've taken less than eight minutes. Instead, it turned into a 22-minute trip that at times felt like a roller coaster ride gone bad.

"It's a very traumatic thing to be trapped in a space with somebody that you're feeling incredibly uncomfortable with," Pachera explained.

After she questioned why the driver was taking I-280, instead of a surface street, Pachera claims he got hostile and was cutting other drivers off.

She claims the rage didn't end there and that the driver said, "'If you don't like the way I drive, get out of my car. What's wrong with you?' And just getting very, very aggressive."

Pachera is still shaken over the incident so ABC7 News took her concerns to Uber Wednesday afternoon and they responded by issuing a refund for the cost of the ride. They also told ABC7 News they have suspended the driver and will be taking a closer look at what exactly happened. In the meantime, Pachera is encouraging potential riders to learn from her experience.

"There needs to be some way -- you know, just think through it in your own mind -- around how you're going to get out of that situation, because I can tell you, thinking about it on the fly while you're panicked in a car is very, very difficult," Pachera said.

She wants Uber to be more transparent with its driver rating system and eventually allow riders to see detailed comments left by other customers.

Uber points out that the driver in this case has not received any similar negative feedback from other customers.