Parents: Do you mind chauffering your kids around?

[soccerdad72]

You and me both, grandma

 

[wvjules]

You and me both, grandma

 

[mjkacmom]

You'd really put minor children in a car with a stranger? Not a friend's mom that you don't really know but a virtual stranger? That's insane.


DD is older now but I remember counting down the days until she got her DL.

My kids ubered at 16, granted the under 18 wasn’t widely known. Dd18 and her friends uber often, as does dd22, just not alone, if possible (dd22 ubered home from a bar last week at 3 am because her friends didn’t want to leave).

 

[mjkacmom]

Does your state not have a graduated drivers license?

In Georgia if you are under 18 and get your drivers license there are restrictions. The penalty for violating these rules is loss of your license for 12 months. The judge has no ability to reduce the sentence.

• For the first six-months, no passenger that is not a member of the your immediate family.
• During the second six-months, no more than one other passenger in the vehicle (who is not a member of the driver’s immediate family) that is less than 21 years old.
• After the second six-month period, no more than three other passengers in the vehicle (who are not members of the driver’s immediate family) that are less than 21 years old.

Ours dies, I don’t know of anyone who follows the rules, my kids have PBA cards. The one time ds22’s friend was pulled over for something, and they found that the driver was 17 with friends in the car, he just got a ticket for the reason they pulled him over in the first place. I’ve never heard of anyone getting a ticket for this infraction.

 

[mom2rtk]

Ours dies, I don’t know of anyone who follows the rules, my kids have PBA cards. The one time ds22’s friend was pulled over for something, and they found that the driver was 17 with friends in the car, he just got a ticket for the reason they pulled him over in the first place. I’ve never heard of anyone getting a ticket for this infraction.

Wow. That's amazing. Those rules are there for a reason. As a parent, I was glad to have the law backing up what I considered a good idea. The really tragic accidents you hear about always seem to involve situations with a number of kids in the car. The more kids, the more distractions.

 

[kdonnel]

Ours dies, I don’t know of anyone who follows the rules, my kids have PBA cards. The one time ds22’s friend was pulled over for something, and they found that the driver was 17 with friends in the car, he just got a ticket for the reason they pulled him over in the first place. I’ve never heard of anyone getting a ticket for this infraction.

That's too bad.

What is the point of laws to protect people if those in charge of enforcing the laws ignore them?

The officers and judges have no leeway in Georgia when it comes to Joshua Law violations.

 

[neverlandsky]

The buses are very inconsistent in the mornings here and lack heaters so we drop both kids off. DS didn’t want to take the bus home, yet we told him to get his learner’s permit and he doesn’t have to. He’s not interested so he takes the bus home. His bus stop home is 1 block away from our home. This is us making him somewhat responsible for himself.

Pickup DD from school because her bus stop is almost a mile for our home. Don’t want her walking that far alone. Plus if she’s does sports/clubs there’s no late bus so we pick her up. Next year her & DS will be in the same school so we told them both they have to ride the bus in the mornings the first 2 weeks of school so they know their driver/routes then we’ll go back to dropping them off in the mornings and they’ll take the bus home until someone gets learner’s permit and/or is in sports/clubs. Although DS and DD are 2 years apart we have a feeling they’ll get their learner’s permit together as a competition thing.

DD is starting more drop offs with friends. It’s frustrating sometimes. Can’t stand their failure to make plans or the change of plans that constantly go down. Given that she’s only 13 and the youngest among her grade peers, she doesn’t understand why we don’t cut her loose with no questions asked with her friends like her friends parents do in public places just yet aka the outdoor mall which is a tourist spot.

She does skateboard to the park which is 2 blocks away to meet up with her friends. DD doesn’t understand that things need to work out with our schedules first before hers. She’s frustrated that we make her check-in every hour and that’s she’s not allowed to go anywhere after dark unless it’s a school sponsored event. She lost the after dark privilege due to her failure of checking in, we couldn’t find her, and her so-called friends didn’t know where she was at.

We’ve explained this is all working up to 16 which is more freedom, driving, working, dating, etc. Plus of her most of her friends are trouble makers (theft while there were parents chaperoning, running away, porn, smoking, caught in the bathroom with lights off, etc.) So instead of denying her to hangout with them, we have a bit tighter leash on her.

Don’t mind driving our kids, yet due to liability we don’t drive their friends.

 

[wvjules]

My kids ubered at 16, granted the under 18 wasn’t widely known. Dd18 and her friends uber often, as does dd22, just not alone, if possible (dd22 ubered home from a bar last week at 3 am because her friends didn’t want to leave).

I wasn't an overly protective parent but no way would I feel comfortable with someone that isn't old enough to drive to be in an Uber alone with a stranger. I guess we all have our comfort levels. That is beyond mine.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

You'd really put minor children in a car with a stranger? Not a friend's mom that you don't really know but a virtual stranger? That's insane.


DD is older now but I remember counting down the days until she got her DL.

I would! at 16/17 years old? In a heartbeat!

We live in a close Chicago suburb. People do it all the time. We are used to public transportation here.

When we lived in a rural town of 3000 people in MI, there is NO WAY I would have thought I would have ever let my kids take a bus, train, uber, or other. Out here, kids as young as middle school routinely take one of the above to get where they need to go. My oldest used to hop on the Metra and go 4 stops west of us to get to the orthodontist a few towns over, when he was in 7th and 8th grade. The ortho was a block north of the station. They would make sure they got him right in and out by the time to inbound train arrived an hour later, and he would walk the mile or so back home. He would have loved taking Uber if he could have instead but it wasn't as common as it is now, back then.

My family, who still lives in MI, wouldn't dream of taking public transportation anywhere. It's just not done in that area.

As for counting down, we just registered DD14 for DT this morning. She will get her permit July 22nd, and then will wait until the following June for her license. I CAN'T WAIT!

 

[mjkacmom]

I wasn't an overly protective parent but no way would I feel comfortable with someone that isn't old enough to drive to be in an Uber alone with a stranger. I guess we all have our comfort levels. That is beyond mine.

In most states, 16 year olds are driving. My kids also took public transportation starting at 14/15, buses and trains to NYC or train down the shore. And I did say not alone for uber. Most of my kids played sports, varsity. They were getting into cars with older players that I never met. Once they get into high school, they are bring driven by people I don’t know, same as when I was there age.

 

[mjkacmom]

That's too bad.

What is the point of laws to protect people if those in charge of enforcing the laws ignore them?

The officers and judges have no leeway in Georgia when it comes to Joshua Law violations.

Guess things are different here in NJ. Kids here have to wait until 17 to even get their license, after a year of driving with their permit, yet in other states, 14 year olds are driving to school. I also don’t have them put on temporary tags for 2 years announcing to other drivers that they are underage, and again, I don’t know if any parents here that do.

 

[cabanafrau]

I wasn't an overly protective parent but no way would I feel comfortable with someone that isn't old enough to drive to be in an Uber alone with a stranger. I guess we all have our comfort levels. That is beyond mine.

Mine are both grown and avoid solo rideshares whenever possible for their own comfort levels. They have friends who feel the same way.

 

[wvjules]

In most states, 16 year olds are driving. My kids also took public transportation starting at 14/15, buses and trains to NYC or train down the shore. And I did say not alone for uber. Most of my kids played sports, varsity. They were getting into cars with older players that I never met. Once they get into high school, they are bring driven by people I don’t know, same as when I was there age.

I said for kids that aren't old enough to drive. I would not be comfortable putting a 14 year old in an Uber alone. But that is just me.

 

[DisneyOma]

If we lived in a city with decent mass transit I'd let them ride that by themselves too. At least with Uber you can track them and know where they are every minute; turn by turn. Teach the kid to verify the license plate and picture of the correct driver/car, I see no issue. By the time they'd be old enough to do such, they may just get to use driverless cars or hopefully we'll live in a much larger city with great mass transit.

You can track them, but you have no idea what is going on in the car. What do you do when it veers from the path you think it will take? Uber has been having issues with the safety of their drivers. https://money.cnn.com/2018/04/30/technology/uber-driver-sexual-assault/index.html

 

[mjkacmom]

I said for kids that aren't old enough to drive. I would not be comfortable putting a 14 year old in an Uber alone. But that is just me.

I said my 16 year old ubered, but never alone.

 

[cabanafrau]

You can track them, but you have no idea what is going on in the car. What do you do when it veers from the path you think it will take? Uber has been having issues with the safety of their drivers. https://money.cnn.com/2018/04/30/technology/uber-driver-sexual-assault/index.html

One of the biggest gripes I've heard from parents for the past several years is -- I give my kids a cell phone for my convenience, yet whenever I try to call or text them they don't answer! Inevitably the parents say they've been through it time and time with the kids and yet they keep running into the same issue. Do we really think kids are going to be so responsible about verifying license plates and pictures of the correct drivers/cars?

Wasn't it only last month a college student was found murdered after getting into a car she mistakenly assumed was her ride share? Yeah, nothing could possibly go wrong with younger, less experienced kids.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You can track them, but you have no idea what is going on in the car. What do you do when it veers from the path you think it will take? Uber has been having issues with the safety of their drivers. https://money.cnn.com/2018/04/30/technology/uber-driver-sexual-assault/index.html

We used Uber when we went to Disneyland in March. One time the driver went a different way than the Uber app was telling him to take to get us back to the hotel. It was a quicker way so no complaints there but it was different than the route shown on the app. Another time a driver had us walk across the street rather than do the u-turn off Harbor to save a bit of time (and money) though he asked us if we wanted to do that or not when he called to let us know he was in the area.

As an aside my husband is a lot more comfortable with Uber than I am.

 

[amberpi]

You can track them, but you have no idea what is going on in the car. What do you do when it veers from the path you think it will take? Uber has been having issues with the safety of their drivers. https://money.cnn.com/2018/04/30/technology/uber-driver-sexual-assault/index.html

You don't know if that kid's friend mom is drunk in the afternoon either. Different people/different opinions.

 

[amberpi]

We used Uber when we went to Disneyland in March. One time the driver went a different way than the Uber app was telling him to take to get us back to the hotel. It was a quicker way so no complaints there but it was different than the route shown on the app. Another time a driver had us walk across the street rather than do the u-turn off Harbor to save a bit of time (and money) though he asked us if we wanted to do that or not when he called to let us know he was in the area.

As an aside my husband is a lot more comfortable with Uber than I am.

The app shows where the car actually is not the route they told the driver to take. You can see that they are 2 turns away and turn too soon, or that they avoided a wreck or whatever.

Seriously, don't spend a SECOND of your life worrying about Uber. I have taken literally over a thousand Uber trips now, part of that is due to travel, and part because I have periods were I can't drive due to medical suspensions (I hate driving, so this is not a hardship). I've only had one experience that was weird. I've had better and worse drivers, but none I felt unsafe with. I think a lot of people just haven't used the service that often and it's the fear of the unknown, or all my time in actual large cities made me immune. Once I spent time in Bogota and Mexico City, a little Uber ride seems a silly thing to even think about twice (not talking about you in specific, Mac, just generally).

 

[mjkacmom]

The app shows where the car actually is not the route they told the driver to take. You can see that they are 2 turns away and turn too soon, or that they avoided a wreck or whatever.

Seriously, don't spend a SECOND of your life worrying about Uber. I have taken literally over a thousand Uber trips now, part of that is due to travel, and part because I have periods were I can't drive due to medical suspensions (I hate driving, so this is not a hardship). I've only had one experience that was weird. I've had better and worse drivers, but none I felt unsafe with. I think a lot of people just haven't used the service that often and it's the fear of the unknown, or all my time in actual large cities made me immune. Once I spent time in Bogota and Mexico City, a little Uber ride seems a silly thing to even think about twice (not talking about you in specific, Mac, just generally).

Uber is used so much here, especially by young adults going to bars and clubs, and even us older adults going out and not needing a designated driver. I’ve seen more stories here about parents driving kids drunk and getting into accidents than uber issues, and I truly believe uber helps prevent DUI’s. We have a Saint Patrick’s day parade in town every year, SO many people now leave their cars at home now.