Uber is promoting its Uber Teen service, which permits young individuals aged 13 to 17 to create passenger accounts on their ride-hailing platform, through a series of new advertisements.
In one of these ads, a young girl named Lola encounters an unexpected hair mishap, prompting her to book an Uber ride to Hair Flair Salon for a quick fix. Lola sends her mother a picture of her less-than-ideal new haircut while her mother is at work. Lola then gets into the back seat of an Uber vehicle, reassured by the fact that her mother can track her journey in real-time, eliminating the need for constant worry.
At the conclusion of the 30-second advertisement, an onscreen message reads, “Go along for the ride with live trip tracking.” The soundtrack music is “Mama Said” by The Shirelles.
Uber’s Teen service necessitates that teenagers establish their accounts through an invitation from their parents’ or guardians’ Uber profiles. These teen accounts will send notifications to parents and guardians when their teenagers request a ride. Parents and guardians can also monitor the trip and communicate with the driver or their child through Uber’s app.
All Uber drivers must meet regulatory requirements, which include criminal background checks, legal inquiries, and a review of their driving history before being allowed to transport passengers. Some cities even require a vulnerable sector check, which provides information on whether an individual has been charged or convicted of a crime and screens for sexual offenses.
Uber will only assign teenage passengers to drivers with a high rating on the platform and a substantial number of completed trips through Uber.
Drivers who have received complaints about their behavior will not be paired with teen riders, and any driver has the option to decline requests from such passengers. Furthermore, any driver transporting a teen in an Uber must consent to having the audio recorded from the pickup to the drop-off point. These recordings are encrypted and stored on the teen’s device and can only be accessed if the rider or driver reports an incident to Uber and chooses to attach the audio file to the report.
To ensure the safety of teens, PIN verification is used to confirm that they are entering the correct vehicle. If the ride deviates from its intended route or ends prematurely, sensors and GPS will notify Uber, which will then contact the teen and the driver to confirm their well-being. In the event of an emergency, parents and guardians can directly call 911 from the app’s trip tracker screen.
