Thankfully, no one was injured in the incident
A woman says she was still charged by her Uber driver after he careered off road and into a canal.
She was charged £24 after the incident in Salford, Greater Manchester, earlier this month.
Emma Lavelle was reportedly a passenger in the vehicle when the incident occurred in the early hours of April 11.
Lavelle, 30, said the driver continued following a route down towards Bridgewater Canal, even though she advised him that it wasn’t safe.
The Uber driver allegedly ignored Lavelle and instead continued driving towards the canal, before a sharp left turn saw the car plunge into the canal.
Thankfully, no one was hurt or otherwise injured in the incident.
In a statement to police, the driver said he was simply following directions on his sat nav.
This Taxi was rescued by RPU west A relief in Eccles after the driver followed his Sat nav straight into the Bridgewster canal. Very lucky escape for the embarrased driver. #gmptraffic pic.twitter.com/lJWKD5pkXx
— GMP Traffic (@gmptraffic) April 12, 2021
In an interview with Manchester Evening News, Lavelle said: “He turned down the wrong street and I said, ‘You shouldn’t be here, don’t continue down that road, there’s a canal.’
“He just carried on and I told him he was in the canal. He asked me if I could get out and thankfully, I could.
“He said ‘are you okay to walk home?’ It’s a 15-minute walk and not the nicest area to walk on your own.
“But it could have been a lot worse.”
Police were called to the scene and the car was eventually retrieved from the canal.
Lavelle has since been refunded by Uber.
In a statement, Uber said: “We are currently investigating this concerning report. The safety of our customers, drivers who use the Uber app and the general public is a top priority for Uber.
“All drivers who use the app are required to adhere to the Highway Code, and any dangerous driving can result in drivers being removed from the app.”
Lavelle said her complaints were initially ignored, but she received a refund after sending an article on the incident directly to the company.
