I will never get this as a non parent

[MrsPete]

First thought: I'm not particularly wise in the ways of Uber, and I didn't know minors couldn't ride alone. I hear my students at school talking about using Ubers fairly often. I've heard kids say, "My mom texted and says she can't pick me up -- she told me to go ahead and book an Uber for the end of the school day." Or, "My mom is taking my little brother to the dentist, so I have to Uber home." Thing is, I am 100% sure that teens are doing this ... with parental permission. I never thought about it much.

My daughter has mentioned that some of her co-workers at the mall occasionally use Ubers to get to work when they don't have rides available, and some of them are high school students. The point: I suspect this is a rule that isn't enforced in reality.

Second thought: This is a tragedy, but I can't see that it's the Uber driver's fault. If no Uber had been available, she would've sought out another avenue.

 

[tzolkin]

This poor girl. I can’t imagine. It’s not Uber’s fault. I think the parents are just looking for someone to blame because they dropped the ball on their kid. If Uber wouldn’t do it, someone would have. She would have found a way. This is heartbreaking

You say the parents are looking for someone to blame, and then you are blaming the parents. Unless you know more details than any of the articles shared, you do not know if the parents "dropped the ball" or that this was in any way their fault.

I may not be able to tell someone is exactly 12 by looking at them. I might even mistake them for 15-16. But there is no chance (other than never say never) that I'd mistake a 12 year old girl for an adult.

People mistake the ages of others all the time. It is completely plausible to me that the driver thought she was 18. That said, if Uber has a "strict" underage policy then drivers should be asking for ID from anyone who looks close to the cutoff age (just like purchasing alcohol).

First thought: I'm not particularly wise in the ways of Uber, and I didn't know minors couldn't ride alone. I hear my students at school talking about using Ubers fairly often. I've heard kids say, "My mom texted and says she can't pick me up -- she told me to go ahead and book an Uber for the end of the school day." Or, "My mom is taking my little brother to the dentist, so I have to Uber home." Thing is, I am 100% sure that teens are doing this ... with parental permission. I never thought about it much.

My daughter has mentioned that some of her co-workers at the mall occasionally use Ubers to get to work when they don't have rides available, and some of them are high school students. The point: I suspect this is a rule that isn't enforced in reality.

I have heard the same. I've even read posts here on the Dis about minors taking an Uber. It seems most people are condemning the parents as "money seekers", but most of the articles I have read about this incident seem to indicate that they are trying to work with Uber to set clear policies that will be enforced. Sure, Uber is not responsible for this girl's death, but they do seem to have a lax policy on minors that could be putting kids at risk.

 

[kimblebee]

I wonder what the girls demeanour was during the ride. I didn’t read the article so it might be there. I also wonder if Uber has something in place where you can call support or the police or something if your passenger is clearly in distress. If she was calm, nothing would seem out of the ordinary, but if she seemed agitated or crying the whole way, I’d hope the Uber driver would pick up on it.

*this sounds like I’m blaming the Uber driver and I’m not.

 

[Klayfish]

Sometimes it's about trying to prevent this from happening to anyone else.

Maybe for the family but not for a plaintiff lawyer it isn't. They simply see dollar signs.

 

[Princessclab]

Did you read the article? She downloaded the app on to her mother's phone.

Why would a 12 year old have access to the parent's phone and all that goes with it?
Shouldn't it be protected from the children? Adult things vs child things.
JMHO

 

[DietCoke18]

Why would a 12 year old have access to the parent's phone and all that goes with it?
Shouldn't it be protected from the children? Adult things vs child things.
JMHO

And yet this girl killed herself. And your concerned with her getting access to a phone?!?

 

[Princessclab]

And yet this girl killed herself. And your concerned with her getting access to a phone?!?

You have absolutely missed the point in relation to the big picture.
If she couldn't get into her mom's phone she would have not been able to call Uber etc., Uber would not have even been involved.
The issue is with what was going on in the family and with the poor child. Children need to be protected from themselves at times, this is the parents' job.
This is not Uber's fault that she killed herself. The only thing they are at fault for is picking up an underaged passenger which is an company internal issue.
Does this help you?

 

[SaintsManiac]

Why would a 12 year old have access to the parent's phone and all that goes with it?
Shouldn't it be protected from the children? Adult things vs child things.
JMHO

I get that. I was just clearing up that she did not have parental permission to download Uber.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

This is tragic, and the parents, of course, are destroyed. But I'm not entirely sure I understand how Uber would have prevented this. The girl downloaded the app on her mom's phone. She committed fraud, technically speaking. I don't mean to speak ill of the dead, but I'm just saying it's not like she logged in and was all like "I'm 12, can I get a ride?"

 

[FlightlessDuck]

It sounds like the parents want Uber to beef up their policy, which I understand. Here's the current policy. Note the language in regard to the actions of the driver ("should", "believe" "feel", "please") and the lack of punishment for not following the suggestion:

A rider must be at least 18 years of age to have an Uber account and request rides. Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by someone 18 years of age or older on any ride.

As a driver-partner, you should decline the ride request if you believe the person requesting the ride is under 18. When picking up riders, if you feel they are underage, you may request they provide a driver's license or ID card for confirmation. If a rider is underage, please do not start the trip or allow them to ride.

https://help.uber.com/partners/arti...-?nodeId=43b84de6-758b-489e-b088-7ee69c749ccd
This is how I would write it:

A rider must be at least 18 years of age to have an Uber account and request rides. Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by someone 18 years of age or older on any ride.

As a driver-partner, you must decline the ride request if you believe the person requesting the ride is under 18. When picking up riders, if you suspect they are underage, you must request they provide a driver's license or ID card for confirmation. If a rider is underage, do not start the trip or allow them to ride.

Violating this policy may result in a fine or termination of your contract.

 

[mjkacmom]

You have absolutely missed the point in relation to the big picture.
If she couldn't get into her mom's phone she would have not been able to call Uber etc., Uber would not have even been involved.
The issue is with what was going on in the family and with the poor child. Children need to be protected from themselves at times, this is the parents' job.
This is not Uber's fault that she killed herself. The only thing they are at fault for is picking up an underaged passenger which is an company internal issue.
Does this help you?

My kids had access to my phone, I don’t understand protecting kids by not letting them use a phone. Most 12 year olds have cell phones, my kids have access to all of my apps, including uber.

 

[msjprincess]

Why would a 12 year old have access to the parent's phone and all that goes with it?
Shouldn't it be protected from the children? Adult things vs child things.
JMHO

My kids can get in my phone. They had their own phones at that age. I'm not sure I understand what it is they need to be protected from.

 

[DietCoke18]

You have absolutely missed the point in relation to the big picture.
If she couldn't get into her mom's phone she would have not been able to call Uber etc., Uber would not have even been involved.
The issue is with what was going on in the family and with the poor child. Children need to be protected from themselves at times, this is the parents' job.
This is not Uber's fault that she killed herself. The only thing they are at fault for is picking up an underaged passenger which is an company internal issue.
Does this help you?

Oh a snarky response. You’ve missed the point. She would have found a way. Uber or Lyft or any other car service. But I’ll let you live in your bubble.

 

[JLTraveling]

First, I feel very badly about the girl. I can't imagine what was going on in her life and/or in her head to make her take her life.

But, the whole "blame Uber" thing is ridiculous. If she hadn't gotten an Uber, she would have gotten a cab or bus, hitchhiked or walked, drank bleach or slit her wrists. When someone is suicidal to the point of following through on an action plan, they're not going to be deterred because one piece of the plan has to change.

As for Uber's policy on minors, it's stupid and I see why they don't enforce it. Kids under driving age, or who haven't gotten their license yet, are probably one of their biggest customer bases in a lot of cities. The summer I turned 13, I aged out of the local day camps. We lived in a city with zero public transportation, and nothing but houses and woods within walking distance. There were no other kids in the neighborhood, and my parents worked full time. Sometimes my mom would drop me off at the mall or whatever, but I hated being *stuck* in one place all day. So mostly I ended up parked in front of the TV all summer waiting for my parents to get home and drive me somewhere. If Uber was a thing then, my parents would *gladly* have let me use it all over town.

I understand that I was a responsible kid, and my parents were free range, and that situation wouldn't work for every parent/child. Maybe Uber could add an opt-in, where parents have to sign something in the app giving Uber permission to transport their kids and waiving liability? I know it could still be forged, but I would think it would still absolve Uber from responsibility.

 

[piccolopat]

This story has nothing to do with being a parent. Uber has a policy of not allowing people under the age of 18 to ride alone. A 12-year old girl called an Uber early in the morning before dawn. The driver accepted the fare, even though it was against the rules, and drove her 20 miles away to a parking garage where she jumped to her death. Her family claims that if the Uber driver had followed the rules and not driven her to the parking garage then she would not have taken her life that day. Specifically, she would not have jumped from that particular parking garage since she would not have been able to get there on her own.

One can also argue that if the girl couldn't access her mother's phone to download the app, Uber wouldn't have been involved at all. Such a shame this happened but a driver violating a company policy doesn't make them liable.

 

[cinnaminny]

Uber better get control of this because they will be held liable. I would guess a bigger issue is transporting minors who are running away or at risk for being trafficked. Seriously THEY are leaving themselves wide open to lawsuits like this by not following their own policy. Their role in this was completely preventable. She would have probably figured out a different way, but again, they left themselves wide open to this type of lawsuit.

 

[cinnaminny]

One can also argue that if the girl couldn't access her mother's phone to download the app, Uber wouldn't have been involved at all. Such a shame this happened but a driver violating a company policy doesn't make them liable.

Not if they have a history of allowing drivers to do this without any repercussions.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

You say the parents are looking for someone to blame, and then you are blaming the parents. Unless you know more details than any of the articles shared, you do not know if the parents "dropped the ball" or that this was in any way their fault.
People mistake the ages of others all the time. It is completely plausible to me that the driver thought she was 18. That said, if Uber has a "strict" underage policy then drivers should be asking for ID from anyone who looks close to the cutoff age (just like purchasing alcohol).

Just because something is conceivable doesn't mean it's probable or plausible. And just because people mistake peoples ages all the time does not mean they mistake 12 year old kids for adults all the time. Yes, people mistake the age of people with 5 decades under their belt by sometimes big margins. But people don't mistake someone with little more than a decade under their belts for adults. The mistake margin is not nearly the same. Is it plausible that a driver that is preoccupied and not paying attention might make that mistake? Yes. But that's on him. If the kid was 16 then yeah I'd go for the people make that mistake all the time thing. 12? Not buying it. If the driver genuinely couldn't tell she was 12, he or she most likely couldn't be bothered to give the subject its due consideration when that girl hopped into the car.

 

[mjkacmom]

I may not be able to tell someone is exactly 12 by looking at them. I might even mistake them for 15-16. But there is no chance (other than never say never) that I'd mistake a 12 year old girl for an adult.

But it was nighttime, dark, and she doesn’t look like a young looking 12 year old. Actually, she looks the same age as my 18 year old. I doubt many kids are calling for Uber’s at that time in that location. I don’t blame the parents for 5he lawsuits, I’m guessing lawyers contacted them, and honestly if that were my child, I know I’d want someone to blame, that’s being human.

 

[Colleen27]

It seems like any time the word "lawsuit" comes into a story, people automatically side with the defendant no matter how out of line the company was. There's just a knee-jerk negative reaction to anyone suing for any reason, IMO.

As far as the specifics of the case, this is the kind of thing corporate responsibility lawsuits are built for - the company has a toothless policy that is widely ignored, to the point of it being a sort of unofficial-official position that has led to many of its employees (but not really employees, cause this is Uber...) taking the position that the policy can be readily ignored. And that position contributed to - not caused, but enabled - a tragic outcome. This time it was a suicide, and yes, the girl might have chosen another method of transport or of self-harm if she'd been denied the ride. But test that logic against other possible outcomes of allowing minors to ride unsupervised - if it was a pedophile using Uber to pick up the underage girl he'd met online, or a sex trafficker instructing kids on how to use Uber to meet him in a neutral location to make tracking the child more difficult, would it matter that the predator could just as easily have called a cab or driven his own car? Or is it worth shutting down their access to tools that make their crimes easier even if it doesn't stop the crime completely?