Can I put my high schooler in an Uber?

[Anonymous]

My kids are in private and those kids all use Uber. My son is 16 and has his own account and uses it all the time. My daughter is not comfortable taking Uber alone so she doesn't. She will take it with friends.

[Anonymous]

The 20 minute inconvenience will be good for her

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was telling a friend that I've had several Uber drivers who made me feel uncomfortable, and she said there are services that have female drivers and will only pick up females. I forget what she said the name was, but definitely look into those.

Surprised Uber hasn't added a feature where you can express preference for a female driver. Maybe because there aren't that many female drivers...I have yet to have one.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in NYC and always hailed cabs. How is uber different (young kids and we live near metro/bus so never thought about it)?

[Anonymous]

Yes you definitely can use Uber if you want to. Both my kids and many of their friends have used it (on our account and on their own accounts as they get older) and no driver has ever questioned it. It is extremely common in DC proper and no one blinks twice.

[Anonymous]

Wow, didn't know it's against policy. Our DS, 16, has been using it a lot this fall since switching to private far away. His friends have used it for years.

I agree with the advice of taking picture and speaking a voice text for girls.

FWIW, DS has had many an interesting driver and learned a lot about the struggles of new immigrants and their amazing tenacity and successes too.

[Anonymous]

My middle and high school children use uber. It's fine.

[Anonymous]

I only allow my DD to use when there is more than one in car. They come back to my house and then I drive the rest home or vice versa. Would be nervous to have my DD do alone but the taking picture is a good idea.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it's fine. First of all, the driver's don't ask for ID from the rider. You can't really tell the difference between most 15/16 year olds and 18 year olds. Hell, I've sent an Uber for my 13 year old once when there was an accident blocking the parking garage of my work so I couldn't leave in time to pick him up.

Screenshot a picture of the car that's coming and the driver. Monitor the trip on your phone.

And why anyone here feels like cabbies are safer than Uber drivers I'll never understand?! If I put my kid in a cab, I have no way to monitor the trip. No idea of what the driver looks like or even their name.

Plus, for those saying "what about if there's an accident!" regarding the Uber, I was in an accident in a cab and it's not like it was some kind of smooth sailing incident. The cabbie was at fault, but wouldn't admit it, of course. He didn't want the other person to call the police and just wanted to handle it on their own. Never checked on me once during all his yelling at the other driver. He was upset when the ambulance arrived and I decided to get transported to get checked out. I was being loaded up and he came over to get payment for the ride to that point, which I did have to pay according to the police there since I'd used the service offered up until that point. Then it was just months of fighting with the insurance to get the bills paid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it's fine. First of all, the driver's don't ask for ID from the rider. You can't really tell the difference between most 15/16 year olds and 18 year olds. Hell, I've sent an Uber for my 13 year old once when there was an accident blocking the parking garage of my work so I couldn't leave in time to pick him up.

Screenshot a picture of the car that's coming and the driver. Monitor the trip on your phone.

And why anyone here feels like cabbies are safer than Uber drivers I'll never understand?! If I put my kid in a cab, I have no way to monitor the trip. No idea of what the driver looks like or even their name.

Plus, for those saying "what about if there's an accident!" regarding the Uber, I was in an accident in a cab and it's not like it was some kind of smooth sailing incident. The cabbie was at fault, but wouldn't admit it, of course. He didn't want the other person to call the police and just wanted to handle it on their own. Never checked on me once during all his yelling at the other driver. He was upset when the ambulance arrived and I decided to get transported to get checked out. I was being loaded up and he came over to get payment for the ride to that point, which I did have to pay according to the police there since I'd used the service offered up until that point. Then it was just months of fighting with the insurance to get the bills paid.

If you use an app to hail the cab (uber app, DC taxi rider), you get all that info. Plus cab drivers are properly licensed/registered -- anyone can become an uber driver.

[Anonymous]

Yes, of course it’s fine to put your high schooler in an Uber. Mine uses it with no problem. I would not however, be paying for my kid to take an uber to school everyday when I could take them myself. It’s ludicrous to me that you’re considering going along with your teen who doesn’t want to get to school 20 minutes early. Seriously? If it were my kid - too bad, you’ll get there when this free ride (ME!) gets you there.

[Anonymous]

I’ve used both uber and Lyft for my middle schooler. Occasionally, a driver will call me and tell me that s/he can’t transport minors. It’s no big deal; I cancel the ride and order another. I place the ride orders from my phone and watch the trip progress to make sure nothing hinky happens. It’s worked out well so far, and we now have just a few drivers who almost always accept the ride requests, so it’s nice to have a small group of people my son recognizes.

Here’s where you’ll run into trouble: to ensure that she gets to school on time, you’ll have to order the ride much earlier than she may need it. Because you can’t be sure how long it will take a driver to accept the ride and arrive for pickup, you have to build in additional time. That means that on days when the drivers are close by or very efficient, your daughter may still arrive to school 20 minutes early, the very outcome you’re hoping to avoid.

In short, you can put her in an uber; very few drivers will refuse the fare. You are violating their terms of service, so understand that will affect uber’s liability should something go wrong. Still, it’s an effective way to move teens and young teens around town when you aren’t able to provide a ride. That being said, the limited benefit of not always being 20 minutes early is probably not worth the cost of ordering her ride every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, of course it’s fine to put your high schooler in an Uber. Mine uses it with no problem. I would not however, be paying for my kid to take an uber to school everyday when I could take them myself. It’s ludicrous to me that you’re considering going along with your teen who doesn’t want to get to school 20 minutes early. Seriously? If it were my kid - too bad, you’ll get there when this free ride (ME!) gets you there.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hell no. Use a local cab company and get to know the dispatcher and driver
There are so many illegal UBER drivers
She could be assaulted or in an accident
Lots of students on visas driving with horrific skills

What is an illegal uber driver?

[Anonymous]

I don't trust them. I don't even like to take ubers myself. I take regular cabs.