HOUSTON – Uber is launching a new feature Monday in the Houston area that is designed to help families on the go with teens.
Parents and guardians can now invite their kids, ages 13-17, to create a specialized Uber account that will allow the teens to request their own rides with parental supervision and safety features built into the experience.
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Here’s how
Through the family profile in the Uber app, a parent or guardian can invite their teen to create an account. A news release said the teen will receive a link to download the app, create their new teen account, and complete the mandatory safety onboarding process. After that, teens can start requesting trips on their own.
But what about safety?
- Live trip tracking: To help parents stay updated with their child’s whereabouts, Uber said they will receive real-time updates whenever their teen requests a ride, including the driver’s name and vehicle information. Parents can follow the trip’s progress live in the app.
- PIN verification: According to Uber, before a teen gets in the car, they’ll be asked to give their driver a unique PIN. Drivers will not be able to start the trip until they enter the correct code into their app, which the company said provides an extra layer of protection to ensure teens get into the right car with the right driver.
- RideCheck: Uber said it uses sensors and GPS data to detect if the ride goes off course, stops unexpectedly, or ends early. If something like this happens, the app will message the teen and the driver to make sure they’re OK. RideCheck will be adjusted to be more sensitive during teens’ trips, the release said.
- Audio recording is also available: Uber’s audio recording feature allows users to record audio of their trip directly through the app and saves files on the device, automatically encrypting them so that no one - not the driver, not the rider or parents, and not Uber - can listen back to the recording.
- Expanded communication: Parents and guardians can contact their teen’s driver at any time during a trip, as well as Uber’s safety line, the company said.
- Only “highly rated, experienced drivers”: Only drivers who have passed local screening and background check requirements and are highly rated and experienced will be able to receive trip requests from teen account holders, Uber said. Drivers can choose to opt out of receiving teen trips at any time.
“Whether their teen is getting a ride to an internship or heading home after soccer practice, parents will receive real-time notifications and can follow along with live trip tracking every step of the way. We’re committed to helping keep teens safe and getting families moving,” said Mariana Esteves, product manager at Uber in the company’s news release.
Uber said it spent more than a year developing teen accounts and consulted with safety experts, like Safe Kids Worldwide, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting children from preventable injuries.