DaVante Williams is a full time property manager and a part time Uber driver. He picked up a teen passenger from the Union Station in Washington, DC and was en route to Williamsburg, Virginia on a cold winter morning at 2am.
Little did DeVante and his passenger know that they were going to be stuck in traffic on the I-95 due to extremely bad weather conditions. 20 miles into the trip, DeVante noticed the slowdown of vehicles and red taillights. He immediately assumed it was just another fender bender and started to notice that his passenger was getting emotional and exhausted when she was talking to family and friends on her phone after they noticed the GPS showing the trip was going to take an additional hour and 30 minutes on top of the original 2 and a half hour trip. They sat in traffic for over 5 and a half hours and he did his best by offering drinks and snacks to keep her as comfortable as possible. DeVante started to worry a little about his gas and about keeping themselves warm throughout this long trip. He was lucky enough to notice other vehicles making illegal turns to get off the highway and decided to follow them back to DC while informing his passenger about his decision of taking her back to the Union Station. He asked her to call her parents and he was able to convince them that it's the best option right now. He then offered to pay for a hotel room so that she can get some rest and try her luck another time. The traffic on the highway stretched 50 miles long which left some motorist stranded for 24 hours.
At about 8:30pm Tuesday night, the teen sent a text to DeVante and let him know that she made it home safe. Her and her parents were so grateful and thanked him for doing what he did. Uber drivers usually take trips like this as a big loss due to the additional consumed gas and time.
Williams was still paid for the original trip and Uber reimbursed him for the hotel room. He was also offered jobs from several companies such as a health care company, a DC government contractor, and an upscale ride share company known as Alto that operates in 4 other major cities in the nation. His great customer service and compassion for other people put him under an angelic spotlight for millions to see as perfect example of a good samaritan.
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