'I'm so scared': Woman says her private-hire driver dozed off at the wheel

Private-hire vehicles are a great and convenient way to get around, but probably not for this woman who described her harrowing experience on board one.

Last Saturday (July 23), Ha Nhung took to Facebook to share what she experienced while on board a Ryde vehicle. 

"Today when I go work I take Ryde. This driver sleep three time [sic]... Omg I'm so scared," she wrote. 

The woman also attached a five-second video of her driver who looked like he was struggling to keep his eyes open while on the road. 

Her video was also reposted on Facebook group Complaint Singapore, garnering several comments from netizens. 

Although netizens noted that the driver's actions were dangerous, there were many who sympathised with him — citing that he could very well be exhausted from the long hours of driving. 

"Poor thing [he] must be very tired," said one user.

Other netizens felt that the passenger should have tried to talk to the driver to keep him awake instead of taking a video and complaining about her situation. 

AsiaOne has reached out to the passenger and Ryde for more information. 

In 2019, a Malaysian driver was slammed for not honking at a fellow driver who fell asleep at the wheel. The latter was involved in an accident seconds later. 

According to the Sleep Foundation, microsleeping is a term that refers to "short periods of sleep that can be measured in seconds". They are most likely to occur after sleep deprivation, or when individuals have been performing monotonous tasks such as driving on an empty highway. 

Last December, Ryde suspended a driver who allegedly told a Muslim passenger not to listen to prayers in his car. 

The woman shared that she put on her earbuds the moment she boarded the vehicle, and the driver began gesticulating at her, telling her that she "cannot listen to prayers". 

When the woman said she could be listening to music, the driver insisted he could feel the change in the "energy", and went on to tell her that "praying inside people's car is wrong". 

ALSO READ: 'My eyes small but not sleeping': Private hire driver's passive-aggressive notes amuse passenger

claudiatan@asiaone.com