Standing ovation for DaVante Williams, an Uber driver who, with his passenger were stuck on I-95 for hours, but he went out of his way to make sure she got home.

DaVante Williams was just focused on getting his teenage passenger home safely to her parents during the more than five hours they were stuck on Interstate 95 in Virginia along with countless other vehicles during last Tuesday's icy road event. 

The part-time Uber driver told CNN he didn't know that Monday's severe winter storm had created a 50-mile-long backup that left some motorists stranded for more than 24 hours when he agreed to make the trip from Washington, DC, to Williamsburg, Virginia.

Williams, 32, said he picked his passenger up at Union Station at about 2 a.m. on Tuesday, after her train had been canceled because of the weather conditions.

They were about 20 miles into the two-and-a-half hour trip when Williams realized there was a problem.

"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.

Williams was eventually able to follow a work truck and some other cars and turn around on I-95 and head back to DC.

Williams didn't want to leave the passenger at Union Station by herself, so he convinced her parents to let him get a hotel room for her -- with his own money -- so that she could rest and be safe.

The parents were reluctant at first, but agreed that it was the best idea. "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.

A friend of her family was able to take her home.

"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."

Uber is reimbursing Williams for the cost of hotel room and thanked him for doing so much for his passenger.  "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.

Williams' extraordinary customer service has earned him a new opportunity.

He was offered a part time job as a lead driver, training other drivers on customer service and maintaining their vehicles, at an upscale rideshare company that operates in DC.

"We are thrilled," a spokeswoman said in an email to CNN. "DaVante is exactly the type of customer and safety focused leader we are looking to help lead our DC presence."

Williams said they are still working out the details of the offer because he works full time as a property manager and realtor.

Williams was not the only motorist stuck on I-95 who performed a kind gesture to make the situation a bit less stressful for a stranger. A couple stranded on the interstate for about 16 hours called a bakery whose truck was also stranded nearby to ask if the truck’s driver could share bread with dozens of hungry motorists. For about an hour, the couple and the truck’s driver handed out about 300 packages of bread.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/08/us/uber-driver-i95-job-trnd/index.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/01/07/uber-driver-teenager-stuck-i95-gets-job-offer/