A private-hire driver who picked up a group of three passengers from Prinsep Street for Jurong West didn’t expect his journey to leave him bruised, having to clean up vomit in the back seat and his dashboard camera gone.
The driver, who works for Grab, reportedly wrote in a police statement yesterday that he had picked up three passengers just after midnight on Sunday from the infamous bar enclave, only to be screamed at and have his ear pulled, among others, after he told them that they would need to pay a cleaning fee because one of them had just puked in the backseat.
The three passengers were two men and a woman. The two men were seated in the back while the woman was in front. One of the men had puked in the car, while the other one was hurling verbal assaults throughout the journey, the driver said.
Grab told Coconuts Singapore today the company has suspended one of the passengers from its platform as a police investigation is underway.
“While I was still driving, the said male passenger went near me, beside my left ear and started shouting into my ear, he also pulled my left ear,” the statement now posted to Facebook by user Hailey read. It is not clear how Hailey is related to the male driver.
“Subsequently, I told him off to stop it, he stopped pulling my ear but the male passenger continued shouting at me until we arrived at their destination,” the statement added.
The driver also said that the violent passenger had, upon reaching their destination at Block 866 in Street 81, opened the driver’s door and attempted to drag him out of the vehicle while the woman beside him busied with the dashcam.
“At about 0110 hrs, when we arrived at the destination, the said male passenger alighted from my car and went towards me, he opened my door and was trying to drag me out of the vehicle, the female passenger who was still in the vehicle meddled with my front in-car camera, she then remove the camera and alighted from my vehicle,” the statement said, adding that the driver’s left arm was bruised due to a bite mark. The driver didn’t say when he was bitten.
Medical documents showed the driver had sought treatment at the Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.
In a statement today, Grab said the company is aware of the incident and is “providing support and assistance” to the driver.
“The safety of Grab users is of utmost important [sic] to us. Grab has zero tolerance for indecent behaviour, harassment or abuse of any kind. We strongly urge both passengers and driver-partners to treat each with respect,” the statement added.
On its website, Grab says that passengers are responsible for the cost of cleaning after making a mess in private-hire drivers’ cars.
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