Voice Actor Will Be Your Fake Boyfriend If You Feel Unsafe Traveling Alone In A Rideshare
His videos could be saving lives.
Snapic_PhotoProduction | Shutterstock These days, you can never be too careful. Tragic stories seem to be on the news every night detailing the latest instance of a woman who was hurt in some way by a rideshare driver. As this problem becomes more and more prevalent, people are doing what they can to take protective measures.
One man decided to take matters into his own hands, creating a video women can use when they feel unsafe traveling alone.
An actor made a video that women can use to pretend they are on FaceTime with their boyfriend when in a rideshare.
Joshua Summerfield is an actor from California who has created a series of videos for women to use when they are traveling alone in a rideshare and feel unsafe. One video featured the text, “Ladies, use this when you feel unsafe in an Uber, Lyft or taxi.”
In the videos, Summerfield produced a convincing script. After a brief ringing sound, he seemed to pick up the video call, and said, “Hey, babe. What’s up?”
In between Summerfield’s comments, he provided text on the video with what the woman using it could say, starting with a simple, “Hey, babe.”
Photo: Marilyn Nieves / Canva Pro
Summerfield continued with his script asking his fake girlfriend where she is and what she is doing. He stated that he could see her location and asked for the name of the rideshare driver and the license plate number.
While it may be stereotypical, Summerfield has a deep, strong voice that would evoke an image of masculinity. To add to this, he said he "just got home from the gym."
Summerfield’s videos appear to be working, at least for some. “Can confirm, Uber drivers have not said a word to me when I use this,” one person commented.
Summerfield's fake rideshare calls have become very popular.
Summerfield’s videos have gained so much traction on Instagram and TikTok that he was interviewed by Newsweek. He stated that he knows his videos really have helped people, and he’s grateful for that.
“The number of messages I have received from people, saying they have saved the video and shared it with their friends to protect them in certain situations has been mind-blowing,” he shared. “At the same time, it lets me know I’m doing the right thing and helping people feel safe.”
Summerfield has made videos for other similar scenarios, such as when someone is being “harassed or followed” or “walking alone.”
Women are seriously concerned about their safety in rideshares.
How safe one is in a rideshare has always been under question. After all, you are getting into a car to be driven to your destination by a stranger. But, in recent years, this has become even more of a concern for women.
According to USA Today, “Uber made news in July 2022 after being sued for 550 sexual assault and attack claims, leaving many wondering how safe using the app for transportation actually is.” While this number pales in comparison to the total number of rides Uber has given, it does still raise red flags.
Additionally, Alarms.org, part of the National Council for Home Safety and Security, surveyed a group of women who are familiar with using rideshares. They reported, “23 percent of women surveyed said they’ve had to report an uncomfortable encounter with a driver to Uber while 15 percent of women said the same thing about Lyft.”
Based on these statistics, it’s clear that women do have some reservations about using rideshares. However, with help from videos like Summerfield’s, it’s possible that women would feel more comfortable using rideshares when needed. Summerfield could very well be saving lives, it's just unfortunate that he has to.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news and human interest topics.