I didn’t want to walk 20 minutes home in the dark from the train station so I hailed a taxi. The horrible events that followed are why I will never catch one again

A young woman has vowed never to take a taxi again after a terrifying experience with an aggressive driver in Sydney who kept repeating “it’s too late” as soon as she got into the car.

Tabitha Wimmer had just returned to town from a trip to the Central Coast with friends on September 9 last year.

Instead of walking the twenty minutes home from Central Station, she decided to take a taxi because she didn’t like walking alone in the dark at 7 p.m.

The 30-year-old marketing coordinator, who now lives in Geelong, hailed a taxi and within minutes felt so unsafe that she fled the car and ran the rest of the way home.

Describing the ordeal on TikTok, Ms Wimmer said she asked the driver to take her home despite it being a short drive.

‘I opened the door, sat on the chair, but the door was still open. The [driver] turned to look at me and said, ‘Where are you from?'” she recalled.

‘He was really angry – he was huffing and puffing – so I said, “Look, I’m going to snap out of it,” and he said, “No, it’s too late,” and actually snapped at me.”

She was confused and thought maybe he was annoyed because she lived close by and it would be a cheap price.

He had already started driving, repeating to himself that it was “too late,” which gave Mrs. Wimmer chills.

To avoid further conflict, Mrs. Wimmer kept quiet because she already felt uncomfortable, but the taxi driver was still irritated and continued to yell at her.

She asked if he would prefer her to get out of the taxi, but Mrs Wimmer was again told it was ‘too late’ – but did not know what he meant.

“Then he said, ‘You know what the problem with you is…’ and he started yelling at me… I hadn’t done anything disrespectful,” she said.

“I can’t even tell you what he said because I think I suppressed it because I was so shocked.

‘He was wandering around shouting at me that I shouldn’t have jumped in his taxi.’

Ms Wimmer told the driver she felt uncomfortable and wanted to get out, but the man only became more aggressive and the shouting became more intense.

At that point, Mrs. Wimmer told him to stop, but he refused. She asked again, but was told, “It’s too late,” and at that moment her heart raced.

‘He refused to stop, so I opened the car door, grabbed my stuff and jumped out [once the car wasn’t moving],’ she said.

‘Then he kept shouting and saying, ‘Come back, come back in now! Now get back in!’

‘I was so exhausted I just started running. I was like, ‘I have to get out of here, this guy is crazy.’

Even as Mrs Wimmer fled the scene, the man still shouted at her to get back in the car and pay him, leaving her completely distraught.

“I was so scared I ran all the way home because I was a nervous wreck.”

Fortunately, she managed to escape and returned home safely.

“I will never use a taxi service again and have not used a taxi since this incident,” Ms Wimmer told FEMAIL.

“If I can’t get an Uber and the only way home is a taxi, I would do that as long as I have a man with me. I don’t think the taxi driver would have been as aggressive as he was towards me if I had a man with me.’

She recorded the TikTok video with the intention of warning other women about the horrific ordeal.

“This man may not have had any malicious intent toward me, but I wasn’t willing to risk finding out. If your intuition tells you to run, run,” Ms. Wimmer said.

“I’m proud of myself for telling this man he was making me feel uncomfortable, and when he didn’t stop, I’m proud of myself for escaping that situation.”

The video has now been viewed more than 12,000 times and other women shared similar experiences.

‘The “too late” scares me! Too late for what? That’s so scary. They may have CCTV footage at the train station that could possibly track down his taxi number,” said a woman.

‘Every taxi experience I’ve had has been unreliable. [I’m] I am 100 percent convinced that taxi drivers are trying to scam me. I just use Uber now, so much better,” another added.

“I’m sorry you went through this. I’ve had a similar experience with a taxi. I live close to the airport and get abused every time,” someone else wrote.

Another said: ‘This is so much more common than you think. It has happened to me a number of times that they are angry that you are not going on a big trip and that they will not get much money.’

New South Wales Government website states that if a taxi driver is available, they must immediately accept the rental when offered.

Taxi drivers may refuse to pick up a passenger for certain reasons, such as if the passenger refuses to stop smoking or drinking alcohol.

In New South Wales you can contact the Point to Point Transport Commissioner for fare violations and safety issues on 131 727. If you feel you are in immediate danger, call emergency services on 000.