University of Wollongong students have been warned to be careful when using Uber services in the city after a spate of concerning incidents.
Wollongong Local, Kate Marie, was stopped by a fake Uber driver while walking home from a night out in the early hours of Wednesday, July 29.
“I was walking home at around 1am and a car pulled up behind me saying he was an Uber and tried to get me to go in his car, I said no of course, and he quickly drove off,” said Ms Marie.
“I was walking by myself and there was no one else around, I hadn’t even booked an Uber.”
Samantha, who is also a Wollongong resident, but preferred not to give her surname, experienced a similar situation in late 2022.
“I don’t live far so I started walking, a car pulled up and yelled Uber,” Samantha said.
“I asked him for my name and he screamed something and drove off, turned around and came back past me super fast with his tyres screeching.”
The university of Wollongong’s Safe and Respectful Communities (SARC) Coordinators Naomi Dear and Elle Coleman explained that they were familiar with situations like this occurring in Wollongong.
“Unfortunately, we have heard of this before,” Naomi said.
The SARC coordinators urge the UOW student’s and the Wollongong community to take advantage of the services and tips offered by SARC.
“People can talk to us about these situations informally, to get support or make disclosures, or anything they’d like to consider reporting to the police or university,” Elle said.
“If something does happen, we encourage people to talk to us, even anonymously, if it’s a pattern of behaviour and we can put some awareness out there to keep people safe we are really interested in helping.”
According to the Uber website, passengers must secure their ride through the app as Uber does not offer the capability to hail or obtain a ride on the street. To ensure rider safety it’s important to always check for an Uber sign on the car as well as the driver’s licence plate, photo, car make, and model.
For more information regarding ride share safety visit uber.com or contact the UOW SARC team uow-sarc@uow.edu.au.
