Did you ask for speeding? Didi driver stabbed passengers late at night
China News Service, Beijing, November 13 (Lang Lang) At around 3:00 a.m. on November 9, a knife attack by a Didi driver occurred in Nanjing, causing a dispute between the two sides due to passengers demanding that the driver speed up in the tunnel.
Didi said that after verifying the recording in the car of the order, it was found that the passenger asked the driver to speed during the journey; while the passenger said in an interview with the China News Service reporter that he did not ask the driver to speed, but only to be as fast as possible within the speed limit.
The injured passengers have responded to the incident online. Some netizens believe that the speed limit for crossing the tunnel is stipulated by law, and passengers are unreasonable; others question why the driver is carrying a knife?
The scene of the incident, pictures provided by the interviewees
Dispute 1: Did the passenger ask the driver to speed?
At around 1am on November 9, Mr. Wang called for an express train through "Didi Chuxing" on the Alipay terminal and went from Nanjing South Railway Station to his residence on Huju Road. He recalled to a reporter from China News Service that because he was in a hurry to go home and video with his girlfriend, when the car reached the Qingliangmen tunnel, "I saw that there was no car in the tunnel, so I asked the driver to drive quickly." The driver refused Mr. Wang on the grounds of speed limit. The two sides immediately quarreled.
According to Mr. Wang’s account, after the car drove out of the tunnel to near Hohai University, the driver asked Mr. Wang to get out of the car, and he also got out of the car. The two had a physical altercation. Mr. Wang pinned the driver to the ground, and the driver showed a knife and stabbed Mr. Wang in the right arm.
"The knife hit the bone, and blood spurted out immediately." Mr. Wang said that he couldn’t see where the other party took out the knife in the night, but only remembered that it was a black dagger about 10cm long.
Mr. Wang said that after he called the police, the driver scolded: "It’s good that you didn’t stab to death."
"He also said that he had just stabbed someone two days ago, and his uncle was the director of the Public Security Bureau." Mr. Wang said that after the incident, the driver Liu was taken away by the police and was criminally detained. Mr. Wang was sent to the hospital’s intensive care unit for a broken vein. Due to excessive blood loss (about 1000cc), he fainted three times before and after, and is currently recovering.
On the 12th, in an interview with China News Service, Didi replied to the matter, saying that the platform had verified the in-car recording of the order: the passenger asked the driver to speed during the journey, but after the driver refused, the two sides had an altercation, which then escalated into a physical conflict.
The reporter asked Mr. Wang many times "whether the driver is required to speed", and Mr. Wang always made it clear that he only asked the driver to drive faster within the speed limit, not to speed.
The driver was detained and unable to be interviewed.
Passengers receiving treatment, photos provided by interviewees
Dispute 2: Why do drivers carry knives? Does the platform allow it?
In addition to the "Rashomon" "whether speeding is required", there is another point of debate in this incident – why does the driver have a knife?
Screenshots of netizens’ comments
According to Didi’s disclosure, platform data shows that the driver of the Dongfeng Fengxing Jingyi X6, which Mr. Wang was riding, has obtained a driver’s license for online car-hailing in Nanjing, with a history of receiving more than 10,000 orders. Past passengers have rated it as five-star.
According to a report by Jiangsu media "Wusu.com", a staff member of Didi Chuxing said in an interview: The company expressly stipulates that drivers are not allowed to bring controlled knives on the bus. As for why drivers carry daggers with them, as of the press release, Didi has not responded positively.
In a reply to the media, Didi said: "After receiving the relevant information, the platform immediately set up an emergency response team. On the one hand, the staff was assigned to visit the hospital at noon to visit the injured, pay medical expenses in advance, and ensure that the injured were fully and timely treated. On the other hand, actively cooperate with the police to investigate the incident."
"Next, we will step up efforts to educate drivers on safety and platform rules, guide drivers and passengers to communicate in a civilized and rational manner, and resolve disputes through reasonable and legal channels," Didi said.
Didi: One wave has not been leveled, and the hitchhiker has just been back online.
This is not the first time something has happened to Didi.
On the evening of May 5, 2018, Li, a flight attendant in Zhengzhou, was killed while riding a Didi ride-hailing car. On August 24 of the same year, Zhao, a 20-year-old woman in Yueqing, Zhejiang, was killed while riding a Didi ride-hailing car. One hundred days, two lives, Didi announced that it would offline its ride-hailing business nationwide.
In March 2019, a Didi driver in Changde, Hunan Province, died after being stabbed more than 20 times by a passenger named Yang.
Not long ago, on November 6, Didi announced the trial operation plan of Didi Hitch: it will be launched in seven cities including Harbin and Beijing from November 20. The plan has also been adjusted due to the controversy over "whether it discriminates against women".
According to the Economic Daily, in July this year, Didi Chuxing held a hitch media communication meeting in Beijing. "I’m just afraid." Liu Qing, president of Didi Chuxing, admitted at the meeting that the team was "rather cowardly" and waited so long because he was afraid. "Who is so sure that they can launch a 100% safe product?"