Recently, we asked BuzzFeed Community members to share their most horrific taxi ride stories, and here are the results.
1. Katherine Haché (Facebook)
"Some friends and I were planning to rent a car to drive from Kingston, Ontario to Henrietta, New York in order to meet a guy one of them had been talking to online. There was a snag with the rental company though, so we decided to take a taxi to the border - about two hours. The driver we ended up with seemed pretty nice, if a little too interested, in the three young women he was driving. Still, the actual ride passed without incident. As we were getting our bags out of the car, though, he mentioned that he was glad he was able to get across the border because he had spent time in jail for assaulting a State Trooper who confronted him for drinking on the job."
2. Tua Tara
"After flirting with me, the driver told me he now knew where my house was and would visit me later."
3. Laurab86
"I was in San Francisco and took a cab back to the hotel from a bar one night with a friend. It was the middle of the night and we were picked up on a sketchy side street. At first we were talking to the driver, but then he started getting weird. He talked the entire ride about serial killers, including graphic details about what he would do with the bodies if he were a serial killer in order to avoid getting caught. He also said that most serial killers had the middle name Wayne and if he had a son he was going to give him that middle name in case he became a serial killer.
By that point we had not been responding for several minutes, but he continued going on about serial killers. The two of us sat there wide eyed, drunk and convinced that he was going to take us somewhere to kill us. Luckily, the ride wasn't long and to our actual surprise, he stopped at our hotel to drop us off. We did not hesitate to pay and get the hell out of there."
4. JoDa
"I was coming home from the far-flung airport after a 19-hour trip home from a three-week business trip to Asia. Once I gave the driver general directions to my house... I called a friend and suggested that she meet me at my house and we could order pizza since I was 'starving and exhausted and just need to speak English with someone who fully understands it about stupid American stuff.'
After I hung up with her, the driver said, 'I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. If you're hungry, I can take you out to dinner,' and even joked that his English was 'very good.' I insisted that I was fine, just wanted to get home, eat some crappy American food, see my friends, and sleep for a week.
He persisted in trying to take me out to dinner to the point that he actually exited the highway well short of the city to take me to his 'favorite restaurant.' As soon as we hit a red light after he exited, I jumped out of the car and yelled at him to open the trunk so I could retrieve my luggage and get a safe ride home. He actually drove off with my luggage in the trunk and I had to call the police to track him down and get my stuff back (luckily, I had kept my purse and laptop bag in the back seat with me, so I had all my electronics and important effects).
I was never happier that I stuck a business card with my work address and phone in the ID slot on my suitcases rather than filling out the card with my home information, in case he looked at it in the hour it took the police to track him down and get my luggage back. Also, never been happier that the cab company had GPS trackers and could find him."
5. Leaa4cdd54eb8
"That one time in London I was going out to Dolphin in Hackney and it was like 4 o'clock. Decided to head back home in Mile End. Couldn't be bothered to take the bus. Asked a random cabbie to take me and I had only 10 pounds, he wanted 15. He then suggested I pay him 'in other ways' while touching his crotch. I thought, 'OK, I'm gonna walk tonight!"
6. DilMateus Pinto (Facebook)
"Once, me, my girlfriend and her brother took a cab in the afternoon. We were talking to the cab driver about irresponsible passengers who make a mess of the back seat and then he told one of his many stories. 'So, this one time a guy got into my cab, drunk as hell, and threw up back there. I got pissed at him and told him he'd better pay for the cleaning. The guy didn't want to, so I took my gun (pointing at the glove compartment) and pointed it at him! The son of a bitch was terrified and gave me all his money!' Apparently, the cab driver ROBBED the drunk passenger. We spent the rest of the 15-minute drive scared to death and agreeing to everything he said, since we didn't wanna get robbed also."
7. Ashley Roehrig (Facebook)
"I was in Liverpool taking a taxi back to my hotel from the bar. As I get up to get out of the car, I put my hand down on the seat and stuck it in something super slimy and cold. I thought I had just put my hand in some dude's load, and the taxi driver turned on the light and it was a giant slug about eight inches long and two inches wide. I puked for sure."
8. Emilyb203
"I was heading home after an awkward date with this guy I just met. I hopped on the metro planning on taking it back into Phoenix, but of course it went one stop then shutdown for the night. At this point it was almost 3 in the morning and I was some miles from my dorm, so I started walking back. I got a couple blocks when this taxi honked at me. I waved them off and continued my slow trudge home, when they made a sudden U-turn and honked again. So I walked over to the cab and informed the driver that I didn't have any money on me, which was partially true. I did have some but not enough to pay for the fare home. He told me it was fine and to hop into the cab.
My first mistake was sitting in the front seat. During our drive he started questioning me asking if I was cold or if I wanted something to eat or drink. I politely told him no and that I wished to just get back to my dorm. My second mistake was when he started asking me more personal questions, like how old I was and if I had a boyfriend.
Since this complete stranger was giving me a ride home, I figured the courteous thing to do was to hold a conversation. But when we started getting closer to my dorm things became very uncomfortable. He started calling me 'mami' and was becoming slightly more flirtatious. As soon as we pulled up to my dorm he leaned over for a hug (or so I thought), so I leaned in to give a slight side hug, when he kissed me on the lips!!! I immediately pulled away, thanked him and hopped out of the car, thankful that I could see our dorm security guard from the window. Though not before he gave me his card, offering a free ride anytime I needed it."
9. Allyg46ef156e2
"This motherfucker entered onto an HOV ramp by accident, and so instead of just dealing with it he REVERSED backwards against oncoming traffic to get off and out of it. At some point he made this million-point turn, and the whole time I'm getting so car sick and his cab smelled so bad of stale cigarettes."
10. Maggie Louise (Facebook)
"I was in a big open-air taxi in St. Thomas once, and to get around the bumper to bumper traffic, the driver drove up onto a sidewalk filled with pedestrians. And he just flew down the sidewalk for several hundred feet. I thought I was going to be an accessory to manslaughter."
11. MarisaVeth
"In New York, I was in a taxi with my mom and our driver was swerving all around the street, and then proceeded to put in eyedrops whilst still driving us. Scary."
12. Torsl965
"I was taking a cab from Union Square to Brooklyn one Saturday night at 4 a.m. Once in Brooklyn and $30 later, the driver informed me that his credit card machine wasn't working. I didn't have any cash. He threatened to drive me back to Manhattan because I only had a card. He then locked me in the cab, cursing and yelling at me. I couldn't unlock the door and the driver was so angry. I started crying. Eventually I had to call 911 and describe the driver, which was awkward. At that point, he finally unlocked the doors and I got out and he drove away angrily."
13. Lisa Green-Clancey (Facebook)
"I decided the train from Portland to Seattle would be so romantic, and I could take taxis around the city. I caught a cab at the station and proceeded to have the most terrifying, high-speed experience of my life. My driver took corners at speeds that made me and my belongings spill all over the back seat. The driver dropped me off at the wrong hotel, and when I questioned him, he called me a 'stupid, messy girl.'
Now, I ALWAYS tip. I do. If I leave 15% it's because the service was lousy. But I was not going to tip this dude. When I asked for all of my change, he said if I wasn't going to leave a tip 'in dollars' I could make it up by showing him what was 'under [my] jeans.' After I dragged myself several blocks to the correct hotel, I called the cab company to report him. The guy I talked to assured me he'd look into it just before he laughed and hung up the phone."
14. Mariav4be9be691
"After driving around for a while the driver turns around and asks, 'Can you see what street we're on? I can't see without my glasses.'"
