Popular e-hailing app Uber has announced the introduction of a new account. Uber Teens is designed to help families on-the-go.
On Thursday, Kagiso Khaole, general manager for Uber Sub-Saharan Africa, confirmed the news. He said parents and guardians will now be able to invite their teens (aged 13-17) to create a specialised Uber account. The account will allow teenagers to request their own rides with parental supervision. There are key safety features built into the experience.
Safety onboarding process
Through their Family Profile in the Uber app, a parent or guardian will be able to invite their teen to create an account. 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.
Khaole further stated that the teen accounts are built with transparency. As such, there will be no surprises for parents, teenagers and drivers.
“We’re thrilled to offer this innovative feature to families in South Africa. With key safety features built into the heart of the experience. Whether their teen is getting a ride to an internship or heading home after football practice, parents will receive real-time notifications. They 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 Khaole.
Measures to ensure safety
See below the safety measures that will be implemented on Uber Teens:
- Live trip tracking: To help keep parents in the know. They can follow along in the app with real-time updates and live trip tracking whenever their teen requests a ride. Additionally, for teen trips, parents will receive the driver’s name, vehicle information, and requested drop-off location. In this way they know exactly where their teen is going and who the driver is.
- PIN Verification: Before a teen gets in the car for a trip, they’ll be prompted 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. This will provide an extra layer of protection to ensure that teens get into the right car with the right driver.
- RideCheck: We use sensors and GPS data to detect if a ride goes off course, stops unexpectedly, or ends early. If something like this happens, the Uber app will message the teen and the driver to make sure they’re fine. RideCheck will be adjusted to be more sensitive during teens’ trips.
- Audio recording available on trips: Uber’s Audio Recording feature allows users to record audio of their trip directly through the app. It saves files on the device, automatically encrypting them. This is so that no one — not the driver, not the rider or parents, and not Uber — can listen back to the recording.
Stringent screening and vetting of drivers for this package
- Expanded communication: Parents and guardians will be able to contact their teen’s driver at any time during a trip.
- Only highly rated, experienced drivers: Only drivers who have passed local screening and background check requirements are used. They must be highly-rated and experienced to be able to receive trip requests from teen account holders. Drivers can choose to opt-out of receiving teen trips at any time.
