CHARLOTTE — Uber has announced that it is launching a new feature in the Charlotte area designed to help families on the go.
Parents and guardians can now invite their teens, ages 13-17, to create a specialized Uber account that will allow them to request their own rides.
The teens will also be able to order food with parental supervision and key safety features built into the experience, according to Uber.
The parent or guardian can invite their teen to create an account through their family profile in the Uber app.
The teen will receive a link to download the app, create their new teen account, and complete the onboarding process. After that, teens can start requesting trips and ordering meals on their own, according to Uber.
Uber said all teen trips will have safety features automatically enabled, including PIN verification, live trip tracking, unexpected event alerts, and access to Uber’s Safety Line. These features cannot be turned off by the teen, the driver, or the parent, so teens will always have access to them with the touch of a button.
“Teen accounts are built with transparency in mind so that there are no surprises for parents, teens, or drivers,” said Mariana Esteves, Product Manager at Uber. “We’re thrilled to offer this innovative feature to families in more cities across the US, 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 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.”
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.
“Safe Kids is proud to partner with Uber for the launch of this new feature for families,” Safe Kids Worldwide President Torine Creppy said. “As part of our work, we were able to provide advice and expertise to Uber to help ensure teens have a safe experience from pickup to drop off. By providing parents with safe alternatives to help their teens get around, we hope this will help create more equitable solutions for families facing barriers to transportation.”
Uber said it began piloting teen accounts in late 2022 in Canada and in early 2023 in several cities across the US.
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