Storm prompts Uber driver to get teen passenger a hotel room, offered new job

An Uber driver has been dubbed a “hero” after booking a teenager a hotel room — with his own money — after a storm prevented her from getting home.

An Uber driver has been praised as a hero, after going the extra mile for a passenger after the pair were stranded on a highway in the US state of Virginia due to winter weather.

Washington D.C. driver DaVante Williams, picked up the teenage passenger at 2am after her original form of transport home — a train — was cancelled due to severe winter weather.

The snowstorm had caused so much disruption, that delays of more than 80km had developed.

In an interview with CNN, Mr Williams said when he picked up the teenager, he didn’t realise the extent of the traffic disruptions in the early hours of the morning – pushing the two-and-a-half hour trip to almost four hours.

Mr Williams said he kept checking on his passenger and offering her drinks and snacks he kept in the car.

“She’s telling me she’s okay, but I could hear her on the phone talking to family and friends and I can hear that she’s just exhausted, emotional, and just tired,” he said.

A snowstorm caused significant delays in Virginia. Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP.

Eventually, Mr Williams was able to follow a truck and turn around on the highway to return to DC. But not wanting to leave the passenger at Union Station, he called her parents to convince them to let him book a hotel room for her.

The part-time Uber driver said the teenager’s parents were reluctant to let him book the room for the passenger with his own money — but eventually came around to the fact she needed rest and be safe.

“They don’t know me, I don’t know them, and I get it,” Williams said. “They just want to make sure their child is safe.”

He got her checked into the hotel at about 8 that morning and offered to take the passenger back to Williamsburg for free once the roads cleared.

“Around about 8:30 Tuesday night, she texted me and said she was safe,” Mr Williams said. “She thanked me for everything and her parents had also thanked me, for doing what I did for their daughter because I didn’t have to do it.”

Virginia had significant delays because of bad winter weather. Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP.

Uber, the company Mr Williams works for, said they will reimburse Mr Williams for the costs of the hotel and thanked him for going above and beyond for his passenger.

g“Mr. Williams went above and beyond during this very stressful situation, and we thank him for his thoughtful actions,” a company spokesperson said in an email to CNN. The company said that “not all heroes wear capes” in a post on Twitter.

After the teen reunited with her family, Mr Williams said both the teenager and her parents reached out to show their gratitude.

“She actually texted me and just thanked me … for everything that I had done for her that night,” he said.