WATCH: Intoxicated passenger puts Uber driver in a dangerous situation
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - On any given weekend, thousands of valley residents use Uber to get around town.
Most rides are uneventful, but that was not the case for one Christina Girard, who drives for Uber. When an unruly passenger got into her car, she turned on her camera to record the tense interaction.
This started out as a pretty routine trip for the Uber driver, picking up a passenger from Old Town Scottsdale right after closing time early Sunday morning. She quickly realized that the woman who got in the backseat was not only very drunk, but also put the driver in danger.
Driver: "No, no you can't climb up front.. you need to sit down!"
Passenger: "Why can I not climb up front?!"
Driver: "Go sit down in your seat!"
Girard's cell phone video shows the obviously intoxicated and agitated woman trying to climb up over the console to the front of the mini van while she was driving 65 miles per hour on the Loop 101 freeway.
"My biggest concern was that she was either going to come up in the front and fall on me in such a way that it blocked my ability to drive safely," said Girard.
The woman continued to try to move up front, calling Girard names and at one point, grabbed the back of her neck.
"She grabbed my neck, yes," said Girard. "That was very scary because I didn't know what else she was capable of and she wasn't in her right mind, so who knew at that point?"
Girard decided to stop the trip and found a safe place to drop the woman off at a fast food restaurant, where the unruly passenger wouldn't budge.
The video ends as Girard called 9-1-1. That's when the woman finally decided to get out.
"It certainly could have been worse and I did get her to a safe location. I wasn't hurt too badly, just shaken up," said Girard.
The passenger left before police arrived at the scene and Girard has no plans to file charges. Releasing the video could get her suspended from Uber, but Girard says she wanted to show people the dangerous situations drivers can face.