Man's Uber Gets Pulled Over. Then The Driver Asks Him To Lie To The Cops: 'Mind You It Was $75'

Most people pay more attention to traffic laws when we're driving ourselves, if only out of fear of getting pulled over. But that fear generally goes away when you’re not behind the wheel, like when you’re on a bus or in a rideshare.

But you don't be behind the wheel to have an unwanted interaction with the police.

Here’s how one Uber passenger handled this uncomfortable situation.

Uber Gets Pulled Over

In a recent TikTok, creator Peter (@doctor.disney), a pediatrician and performer, shared the wild circumstance he found himself in during an Uber ride.

"Crazy Uber story (Lyft SOS)," the text overlay on the video reads.

Peter explained that he was in Wisconsin heading to a friend's show and needed a rideshare to get there. He'd initially booked a Lyft, which he prefers over Uber, but that driver was 16 minutes away, so he switched to Uber because it promised an arrival time in nine minutes.

As he watched the map to track its progress, his Uber stopped moving.

"I'm waiting for my Uber and it does not move. She got to a place and just stopped moving," he said.

Before he could message her about it, the driver messaged him.

"I'm on my way, don't worry about it," she told him.

He gave her the benefit of the doubt, assuming she needed a bathroom break, and joked about it over text with the friend, who told him to tell the driver to speed. To Peter’s misfortune, that’s exactly what happened once he got in the car.

"She actually was speeding. We're zoom-zoom-zooming,” he said.

That's when things got real. He says that as they were flying down the highway, he noticed a police officer on a motorcycle hiding behind an overpass.

When they passed by, Peter immediately clocked that the officer was going to chase them down.

“I know what’s happening, she knows what’s happening,” he said.

"There's a police behind me," she told him.

"What do you think your Uber passenger's gonna do right now?" he recalled thinking to himself. 

They got pulled over and the officer said she was going 73 miles an hour, which the driver immediately denied.

"Seventy-three? No, I wasn't going 73, was I?" she said, pointing at Peter.

Uncomfortable with being pulled into the police interaction, Peter said he stayed quiet. He noted she never once acknowledged she had a paying customer in the car or apologized for the situation.

"She says to me, 'I can't get a ticket.' I'm like, do you have any awareness of who you're talking to? I'm a customer right now," he said.

He said the driver pleaded her case with the officer, telling him she can’t lose her job because it depends on driving. The cop replied that she could contest the ticket in court.

The driver then told Peter, exasperated, that the ticket was "$175 and four points."

Peter clearly wasn’t impressed.

"Lie to the police for you?? Mind you it was $75 and Uber support said there is nothing they can do," he wrote in the caption.

What Should You Do If Your Rideshare Is Pulled Over?

If a rideshare driver gets pulled over, a passenger should remain in the vehicle, keep their hands visible, and let the officer speak with the driver, according to both Omega Law Group and Adam Smallow Injury Lawyers.

Passengers generally aren't required to show ID unless police have a specific legal reason to ask for it, and being in the car doesn't put a rideshare passenger in any legal trouble on its own.

Both firms note passengers retain the right to stay silent if questioned, and can decline to answer beyond what's legally required.

If the stop escalates—such as if the driver is arrested, the vehicle gets towed, or a passenger feels unsafe—the standard advice is to request a new ride through the app once released and report the incident to the rideshare company directly.

Gallery: Uber Autonomous Volvo XC90

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What’s the Difference Between Lyft and Uber?

Pricing and availability between Uber and Lyft shifts constantly, and neither company is reliably cheaper or faster at any given moment. Research generally shows Uber’s pricing is lower than Lyft's in most of the country, though Lyft tends to be more affordable in western and northeastern states, particularly New York, Investopedia states.

Uber is also the larger of the two by a wide margin, holding roughly 76% of the US ride-hailing market as of 2024.

Ultimately, since both companies use adaptive, real-time pricing, Investopedia says the only reliable way to know which will be cheaper or faster at a given moment is to check both apps side-by-side.

Commenters React to the Speeding Stop

People found Peter’s tale entertaining and relatable.

“Ohhh I was in a NYC taxi that got pulled over once. As soon as the traffic stop was over, he resumed speeding SO incredibly expeditiously,” one wrote.

Several didn’t think the Uber driver should’ve been pulled over.

“I'm sorry getting pulled over for going 73 in the Madison area is insane; that cop must have been bored,” one commented.

“73 that’s slow on the freeway?” another agreed.

Motor1 reached out to Peter via email and Instagram direct message and Uber and Lyft via email for comment. We'll be sure to update this if either responds.

 

 

 

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