Samantha Josephson, a 21-year-old University of South Carolina student from New Jersey, climbed into a black four-door Chevrolet Impala she thought was her Uber after a night out with friends in late March, police said. Turkey hunters later found her body in a wooded area with “multiple sharp force injuries.” Authorities charged Nathaniel Rowland, 24, with her alleged kidnapping and murder.
And Josephson’s father, Seymour Josephson, urged riders during a vigil for his daughter to seek out safety in numbers. “If there is somebody else in that car, there is actually a chance,” he reportedly said. Lyft, the company’s main competitor, did not respond to a request for comment about the recent heightened attention to rideshare safety.
Harry Campbell, the founder of The Rideshare Guy and author of The Rideshare Guide who drives for Uber and Lyft, said the biggest mistake he sees passengers make is treating the pickup process “very casually.” He recalled some passengers forgetting whether they’d hailed an Uber or Lyft, and others getting into the wrong car by accident.