Passengers cough on, assault cab driver after he asked them to cover face

An online cab driver has been assaulted, coughed on and pepper-sprayed by the passengers after he asked them to wear a face-covering while sitting in the vehicle.

The 32-year-old Uber driver, Subhakar Khadka said that the three women have racially abused him whom he picked up from the Bayview area of San Francisco on Sunday.

In the shocking footage filmed on a car camera, three women are seen sitting in the back seat of Khadka’s car.

One of the women was seen coughing in his direction and later leaned forward to grab his phone and ripped off his face mask.

Another of the women then pepper-sprayed inside his car, said the driver. San Francisco police confirmed they are investigating the incident and are asking for help in identifying the riders, Dailymail UK reported.

Khadka told CBS: ‘I never said anything bad to them, I never cursed, I was not raised that way. I don’t hit people, I am not raised that way, so they were not getting out of my car.’

Khadka, who moved to the US from Nepal eight years ago to support his family, said the altercation began when asked one of the women to put on her face mask. When she refused he said he pulled into a gas station so she could buy one.

But he says the insults and racial slurs then began before one of the women even pepper-sprayed him as they left the car.

Uber says it has suspended the account of the woman who ordered the car. Khadka was also given $120 in term of cleaning funds by the company. Uber said in a statement that the behaviour seen in the video is appalling and the rider no longer has access to the cab service.