Lyft passenger fatally struck on I-80 in Vallejo after attacking driver, CHP says
A Lyft passenger was fatally struck on a Solano County freeway early Saturday after California Highway Patrol officers said he attacked his driver.
Around 1:15 a.m., the agency received a call from a Lyft driver, who stopped his car on the shoulder of eastbound Interstate 80 near Tennessee Street in Vallejo. The driver reported that his passenger began to verbally and physically assault him.
Officers said the driver, a man in his 30s from Sacramento, got out of the vehicle. The passenger soon followed and chased the driver along the shoulder towards Redwood Parkway.
Shortly before 1:20 a.m., the passenger was struck on the right lane by a driver in a black Audi sedan.
The Audi driver, identified as a woman from Vallejo, said she did not see the pedestrian until it was too late, according to the CHP. Meanwhile, the driver of the Lyft only heard the crash.
Officers said the Lyft driver picked up the passenger at a bar in Benicia and was taking him to his home in Vallejo. The driver reported that his passenger appeared to be highly intoxicated.
Authorities said the passenger was a 50-year-old man from Vallejo. His name was not released.
The incident raised safety concerns among rideshare drivers.
"Three years ago, the same thing happened to me," said Aminullah, a rideshare driver.
Aminullah, who only wanted to be identified by his first name, told CBS News Sacramento he now only accepts rides from the airport because he believes passengers there are less likely to become unruly.
"I've got children, so I cannot put my life in danger to drive somebody I don't know and suddenly they become a harmful person," he said.
Lyft said in its most recent safety transparency report that there were 23 fatal physical assaults nationwide between 2020 and 2022.
CBS News Sacramento reached out to Lyft for comment, but the company did not provide an official response.
Additional details about the incident were not immediately available.