A young woman has vowed to never take a taxi again after being scarred by a terrifying experience with an aggressive driver in Sydney who kept repeating “it’s too late” as soon as she got in the car.
Tabitha Wimmer had just returned to the city from a trip to the Central Coast with friends on September 9 last year.
Instead of walking the 20 minutes home from Central Station, she decided to take a taxi because she didn’t feel comfortable walking alone at 7 p.m. in the dark.
The 30-year-old marketing coordinator, who now lives in Geelong, took a taxi and within minutes felt so unsafe she fled the vehicle and ran the rest of the way home.
Detailing the ordeal on TikTok, Ms Wimmer said she had asked the driver if he would be willing to take her home even though it was only a short journey.
On 9 September 2023, Tabitha Wimmer took a taxi home from Sydney Central Station and claimed the driver yelled at her despite having done “nothing wrong”.
The 30-year-old marketing coordinator, who now lives in Geelong, took a taxi and within minutes felt so unsafe she fled the vehicle and ran the rest of the way home.
‘I opened the door, sat on the seat, but the door was still open. He [driver] He turned to look at me and said, “Where do you come from?” he recalled.
“I was really angry, I was huffing and puffing, so I said, ‘Look, I’ll jump,’ and he said, ‘No, it’s too late,’ and he actually yelled at me.”
Feeling confused, she thought he might have been upset because she lived nearby and the fare would be cheap.
He had already started driving while he kept telling himself that it was “too late,” which gave Mrs. Wimmer chills.
To avoid further conflict, Mrs. Wimmer remained silent because she was already feeling uncomfortable, but the taxi driver was still agitated and continued shouting at her.
She asked if he would prefer her to get out of the taxi, but Ms Wimmer was again told it was “too late”, but she did not know what that meant.
The driver kept repeating “it’s too late” and Mrs. Wimmer had no idea what he meant. Since then, other women have shared their own similar stories.
“Then he said, ‘You know what your problem is…’ and he started yelling at me… I hadn’t done anything disrespectful,” she said.
‘I can’t even tell you the things I was saying because I think I ignored them because I was so surprised.
“He was rambling and yelling at me that I shouldn’t have gotten in his taxi.”
Mrs Wimmer told the driver she was uncomfortable and was happy to get out of the vehicle, but the man became more aggressive and the shouting intensified.
At that point, Mrs. Wimmer told him to stop, but he refused. He asked again, only to be told, “It’s too late,” and at that moment his heart raced.
“He refused to stop, so I opened the car door, grabbed my things and jumped out.” [once the car wasn’t moving],’ she said.
Then he kept shouting saying, “Come back, come back here now! Come back here now!”
“I was so exhausted that I started running. I thought I need to get out of here, this man is crazy.”
Even as Mrs Wimmer ran away, the man continued shouting at her to get back in the car and pay him, leaving her completely distraught.
“I was so scared that I ran all the way home because I was so nervous.”
Fortunately, she managed to escape and arrived home safely.
While it’s unclear what the driver meant by “it’s too late,” some TikTok users suspect that taxi companies have a policy where the driver must complete a fare if the customer has already sat in the vehicle.
In Mrs Wimmer’s case, the driver appears to have become frustrated because she got into the taxi before he realized it would only be a short, low-cost ride.
“I was so scared I ran all the way home because I was so nervous,” she said.
“I will never use a taxi service again and have not used one since this incident,” Mrs Wimmer told FEMAIL.
‘If I can’t get an Uber and the only way home is a taxi, I would do it as long as I had a man with me. ‘I don’t think the taxi driver would have been as aggressive with me if he had a man with me.’
She recorded the TikTok video with the intention of alerting other women about the horrendous experience.
‘This man may not have had any ill intentions towards me, but I wasn’t willing to risk finding out. “If your intuition tells you to run, run,” Mrs. Wimmer said.
“I’m proud of myself for telling this man that he was making me feel uncomfortable and when he didn’t stop, I’m proud of myself for escaping that situation.”
The video has since been viewed more than 12,000 times and other women shared similar experiences.
‘Too late’ is scaring me! Too late for what? That’s very scary. They would have security cameras at the train station that could get your taxi number,” one woman said.
‘All the taxi experiences I have had have been iffy. [I’m] 100 percent convinced that taxi drivers are trying to scam me. Now I use Uber, much better,” added another.
‘I’m sorry you experienced this. I had a similar experience with a taxi. “I live near the airport and they always mistreat me,” wrote one more.
Another said: ‘This is much more common than you think. It’s happened to me on several occasions that they get angry because you’re not going on a great trip and they’re not going to make a lot of money.’
New south Wales Government website states that if a taxi driver is available, you must accept the rental immediately when it is offered.
Taxi drivers may refuse to pick up a passenger for certain reasons, such as if the passenger refuses to stop smoking or drinking alcohol.
In New South Wales you can contact the Point to Point Transport Commissioner for fare violations and safety issues on 131 727. If you feel you are in immediate danger, call emergency services on 000.