A “ride-hailing” driver managed to prevent an attack by using an emergency App he had just downloaded!
Cape Town, South Africa – According to a recent article by IOL, attacks on ride-hailing drivers like Uber are increasing at such an alarming rate that certain areas in Cape Town have been red flagged as crime hotspots.
**Martin, a driver for a ride-hailing service, has been attacked twice in the last year by people posing as passengers.
“Being a driver now is very dangerous,” says Martin.
“Every time I go to work I wonder if I will be returning to my family at the end of my shift. There are people out there who target us drivers. I really fear for my life.”
Martin heard about the Dialdirect Namola Emergency app from a fellow driver and decided to download it in the unfortunate event that he became victim to another attack from one of his passengers. He did not expect that he would have to use it as soon as his next working shift.
“As soon as I collected this guy, I had an uneasy feeling,” says Martin.
“He was acting very strangely, and I was convinced that I saw a weapon tucked in his jeans. When he asked me to stop at the petrol station to buy cigarettes, I used this as an opportunity to request help through the emergency app.”
Martin received a call from the operator, who told him to try and stay out of the car and remain at the petrol station. Martin was smart enough to tell his now impatient user, that he needed to buy data to continue the trip. Upon entering the petrol station shop, he quickly explained his situation and asked the teller to do anything that they could to stall him having to leave the petrol station.
“My passenger came storming into the shop and started shouting at me that he wanted to leave. Thank goodness the shop attendant played along and told him that the airtime machine was offline and that it would take some time,” explains Martin.
“I was just about to give up hope of the police arriving when I saw the red lights pulling up to my car. When I saw my passenger running away, I knew I made the right choice to call for help.”
Police gave chase of the passenger, and when they caught him, found him to be in possession of an unlicensed firearm.
“I shudder to think what would have happened to me if I had not pushed the Dialdirect Namola App for help,” says Martin.
“I recommend all ride-hailing drivers to have this app on their phone.”
Download the Dialdirect Namola Emergency app FREE, either from the Apple App Store or Google Play, or visit namola.co/pr.
**Martin’s surname has been omitted for privacy reasons.
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