The 23-year-old woman, surnamed Chē 车, booked the Lalamove van using its app at around 3 p.m. on February 6 to move her property from one apartment to another. When he arrived at the woman’s residence at 8:39 p.m., the driver, surnamed Zhōu 周, offered to provide moving assistance that would entail additional charges. The woman declined and proceeded to take care of loading herself.
Che spent almost 40 minutes getting her belongings loaded onto the van, during which period the driver told her multiple times that extra waiting times might cause additional fees. Then the vehicle hit the road at around 9:14 p.m. During the ride, the driver again asked Che if she wanted help with unloading at her destination, to which she firmly stated “No.”
Seeing no chance of squeezing any extra money out of Che’s ride, the driver accepted another ride while traveling and decided to take shortcuts not shown on the app’s recommended route to save time. Che voiced her displeasure and concerns several times, but Zhou ignored her complaints. About 15 minutes into the ride, Zhou exited the van through the window of its front passenger seat, likely in fear of her safety.
The driver called an ambulance immediately after Che hit the ground. The woman was rushed to a hospital but four days later, she was pronounced dead from serious brain damage.
