Amariyah Mallory 
Uber revealed a new teens account feature, which allows teens between the ages of 13-17 to participate in ride share on their own. The parent or guardian will be able to track the location of the child remotely through the Uber App.
“Before a teen can request their first ride, they must complete a safety onboarding process that teaches them about the safety features that are available to them on every ride,” according to Ubers website.
Parents or guardians have to create the teen account by adding an additional profile to their account. The new accounts include a unique PIN number that teens will give to their driver before the ride starts and in-app audio recording of the ride. A live-tracking feature also lets a parent follow the trips’ progress via the Uber app. Parents or guardians also have the ability to contact the driver as well as Uber’s support team.
“Only experienced and highly-rated drivers will be eligible to complete trips with teens,” said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
The new feature became available on Wednesday, May 22, in more than a dozen metro areas in the United States and Canada including New York City, Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston, with plans to launch in more cities in the coming weeks and months. As of right now Chicago is not one of the test cities.
How do you feel about Uber allowing teens to ride alone? For more info, click here to visit the Uber site.
By Amariyah Mallory, Freshman, Whitney Young
IG: Dancemari_
