A young woman has warned others to be vigilant after an alleged terrifying incident with a Dublin taxi driver last week.
Megan Carpenter got a taxi home to her home in south Dublin on Friday but was left in tears after the driver allegedly touched her neck and thigh without consent and made several inappropriate comments.
The 22-year-old posted about the terrifying incident on social media and said multiple women have reached out to her describing similar experiences in taxis in Dublin. Speaking to Dublin Live, she described the events that allegedly unfolded during the 20 minute journey.
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Megan said that she flagged the ordered taxi down as he was a couple of houses away and then got into the front seat. "Sometimes I sit in the back and sometimes I sit in the front, I've never had any trouble like that in regards to where I'm sitting," she said.
"So I got in the front and was polite saying 'hi, how are you', just like normal taxi talk. He said 'you're so stunning, you're so beautiful', to which I said thank you very much. Again, I didn't think much of it.
"Then, he said I had lots of tattoos and I said yeah I do. He then said 'do you have any in any private places' and I thought that was a bit weird."
Megan said that the driver proceeded to touch a large tattoo that she has on her thigh. "He started rubbing it and said 'this one is amazing, I love this one. Does it lead up to any private places?'
"I said no, it was just a leg piece and tried to lean more towards the window. Then he started stroking one that I have on my neck, it's actually a feminism symbol that he started stroking.
"He was saying things like 'so pretty, so pretty' and asked if I had many tattoos or if I lost count."
Megan said she began texting her parents to let them know what was happening in the taxi. "I removed eye contact at that point and took out my phone and started texting," she said.
"He asked what I was doing and I said I was texting my friend. He said 'oh okay, I thought you were taking pictures'.
"I said no and we kept driving. Then he was like 'oh we only have eight minutes left on our trip, are you going to show me what a real party girl can do?'
"I didn't say anything. I didn't know if he was joking or not so I didn't know what to say. Then we got to five minutes and he said 'oh only five minutes left, what are we going to do for five minutes Megan?'
"Then I was thinking oh he's not joking, he was being dead serious. So I stopped replying and went really quiet.
"I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He was a big man as well."
Megan texted her parents to let them know what was happening and her dad waited for her outside their house.
"It was very much like trying to keep the situation as calm as possible. When my dad got there I started bawling crying and he asked me what was wrong. I opened the door and ran out straight away and I stood behind my dad.
"My dad started shouting at (the driver) saying 'what are you doing? The age of you, you've made her so uncomfortable. She's been texting everything that happened on the trip.
"The driver said 'no I didn't do anything, I don't know what's going on. I'm married, I'm married' and all of this stuff."
Megan said her dad told the driver to get out of the car but he drove off. "Then he came back two minutes later and rang our doorbell then ran back to his car," she said.
"My dad went out to his car and asked him what he was doing. And (the driver) said 'she forgot to pay me'."
At this point, Megan's parents had contacted gardai and officers were on their way. "The cheek of him.. for him to be so sure that my parents would believe him and then to come back and ask for the money."
Megan and her dad both gave statements to gardai following the incident. She also reported the incident to FREENOW, who told her they are looking into it.
"I always thought taxis were the safest way to get around and now I know that no transport is really safe," she said.
A spokeswoman for FREENOW told Dublin Live: "The safety of our passengers is of utmost importance to FREENOW and we only work with Garda-vetted, SPSV-licensed drivers who are regulated by the National Transport Authority.
"If a serious safety allegation is made by a passenger, the driver involved is immediately suspended by FREENOW pending an investigation. FREENOW supports An Garda Síochána fully with any investigations arising from such allegations. In line with this process, FREENOW cannot comment on any individual passenger cases.”
Dublin Live has contacted An Garda Siochana for comment.
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