AN Uber rider has been refunded for a $600 bill after getting stuck with his driver on I-95 for nine hours after a winter storm caused standstill traffic Monday morning.
Andrew Peters was heading home from Dulles International Airport when he and his Uber driver were hit with gridlock traffic on I-95.
“I was coming in from San Francisco and didn’t really realize what was going on here,” he said.
Peters said the experience was “scary” and that they had no food or water the entire time. Hundreds of other vehicles ended up stranded on the icy interstate, including Virginia Senator Tim Kaine who was stuck for nearly 27 hours.
After getting home, Peters was charged $200 for the ride and received a bill for another $400 later, he said to WTOP.
“I’m still trying to find somebody to talk to understand why they feel like they could charge me this,” he said.
Uber later released a statement announcing that Peters was refunded for his trip.
“We have refunded Mr. Peters after this terrible ordeal and are so glad that he and his Uber driver got home safely,” read the statement.
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Uber added that the driver’s pay will not be affected. Uber charges are based on the time and distance of the trip, according to the company’s website.
Heavy traffic can affect the result of the final cost of the trip.
After over a day of blockage, the interstate fully reopened Tuesday night. Gov. Ralph Northam said that rainfall before the storm washed away the salt used to treat the roads.
“First we had rain, which meant that we couldn’t adequately preheat the roads. Then we had slushy snow that fell a lot faster than our snowplows could move it,” he said.
“And then, as night fell, the temperatures dropped below freezing. All those together created the perfect storm for what happened on I-95.”
Northam said that Virginia’s National Guard wasn’t called because there were no requests received from localities along the interstate.
He also said that there wouldn’t have been an “immediate solution” to the incident if the Guard had been called in.
“Remember that our Guard members have day jobs. In fact, as you all remember last January 6, we sent the National Guard to help at the Capitol after the insurrection, but it was the next day before they were able to arrive,” Northam said.
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