Daniel exists to die, basically. He’s the driver in the opening scene. He’s a bit of a prankster, trying to scare his sleeping friend by screaming like they got into an accident. Well, foreshadowing. When his buddy has to pee, Daniel pulls over but gets taken out by the Passenger when Lucas is in the woods.
We don’t see Daniel get taken from the car since the camera is on Lucas in the woods. While he’s out there, the car horn sounds–not just a beep, but unrelenting. Lucas gets back to the car and discovers the doors open, and Daniel is gone. As Lucas is sitting in the car, Daniel slams through the windshield covered in blood, begging for help, before an unseen force yanks him back out into the dark. His final fate is left mostly off-screen, but the scene frames him as The Passenger’s first victim in the movie.