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Davante Williams: Uber driver who booked hotel for teen rider stuck on I-95 gets new job offer

Uber tweeted about the good deed and shared a post saying, 'Not all heroes wear capes'. The company has also reimbursed Williams for hotel expenditure

Davante Williams, a part-time Uber driver, was stuck with a teenage passenger for more than five hours on Interstate 95 in Virginia due to a severe winter storm. The driver was making this trip from Washington, DC, to Williamsburg, Virginia, when they got stuck with hundreds of others. Williams, who was determined to get the girl home safely booked a hotel room for her with his own money, has now been rewarded with a new job opportunity. 

Williams, 32, picked the passenger up at Union Station at about 2 am on Tuesday, after her train was canceled due to derailment. So she could only call for Uber and Williams was allotted as her driver. William provided the young girl with water and crackers and spoke with her parents to reassure them that he was going to take care of their daughter. 

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The part-time Uber driver was stuck on I-95 after a crash involving six tractor-trailers and some downed trees created a jam that lasted for more than 15 hours. Williams said, "I noticed trucks and cars, there's a ton of red lights ahead of me." He tried taking an alternate route but police directed him back onto the gridlocked Interstate. "Once we got back on I-95, my GPS instantly updates itself and it adds another hour-and-30 minutes to the trip," he said. 

While being stranded on the highway, Williams offered the teenager drinks and snacks. He said, "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."

The driver even spoke with the girl's parents who were worried about her safety. Their parents asked the driver to head back to DC. He said, "They don't know me, I don't know them, and I get it." Williams also added, "They just want to make sure their child is safe."

Williams also explained to the teenage passenger's parents that he is going to take care of their daughter. "I had to explain to her parents that, 'Hey, I'm not anyone crazy. I'm just trying to get your daughter somewhere safe'," said the Uber driver. 

After finally getting away from the highway, Williams rented the young woman a hotel room for the night. "I wind up having to put her in a hotel because she wasn't old enough to get a room..So I wanted to make sure she was comfortable and I didn't want to leave her stranded", said Williams. 

William said the teenager reached out to him to thank him. "So around about 8:30 Tuesday night, she texted me and said she was safe." He 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."

Williams' story has gone viral and Uber tweeted about the good deed he has done shortly after his appearance on NewsNation. Uber captioned the post, "Not all heroes wear capes". Uber spokesperson said, "Mr Williams went above and beyond during this very stressful situation, and we thank him for his thoughtful actions". Uber reimbursed Williams for the hotel expenditure. The part-time driver was also praised on social media platforms and was even offered a new job. 

Talking about the job offer, William said, "I received an offer to be a lead driver for Ride Alto, where I will be pretty much in the office, just being a supervisor." Alto is a luxury rideshare company and Williams will be training other drivers on customer service while working as a realtor.