Who are these people?

Lately there has been a lot of pings from minors. Yes under age people trying to use Uber for rides.  After being a driver for seven months I know where some of the users are, others I just find out about when arriving at pick up.  Like the last ride which was requested by "Rebecca."

So the ping comes up at 4pm about a mile away and I notice the address isn't exactly corresponding to a specific location so I text "Rebecca" to ask for a confirmation.  I don't get a reply which tells me either the app isn't working correctly, Rebecca didn't get the text OR, another Uber no-no, the ride has been requested for someone else.

I get to the pin drop (non existent address in a cluster of buildings) and see 2 teenage boys who look like they are eyeing the cell phone and waiting.  And I know then, I will need to cancel the ride.  The boys approach and I ask their age - 15.  They look every bit of that - not a drop over.  So I explain that per the terms of service, I am not allowed to take any passengers under the age of 18.  This is for their protection (think of some of the Uber driver stories out there) as well as mine (I don't want to be falsely accused of anything).  Add to that my Uber insurance doesn't cover me or the kids if there is an accident because I've violated my terms of service.

This is not the first, second, third . .. .time this has happened.  And as I drive away I am asking myself, who are these people?

Who are the parents that would put their child in a car with a stranger?

As a parent of 3 children I would not do that.  I would find another way, let them wait till I get home for a ride (4 in the afternoon, where could they need to be that they can't wait?) or leave work early.

I am a single parent, I get it.  Sometimes your child wants to be somewhere else, go somewhere else, but is it so urgent they can't wait?   Is there really no one else who can take them to school or practice? Someone you know and trust?

The funny thing is we spend all this time when kids are young teaching them about stranger danger, don't get in cars with strange people.  We read about teens being abducted and trafficked. Yet a parent will let their child get into a car with a stranger because of the decal.

Closely related to this dilemma is the parent who wants to take an uber with their young child but doesn't bring along the car seat. It doesn't matter that there is a law about children and car seats, it's just not safe!  We all know you can't ride with a baby on your lap, one sudden stop and the child is slammed against the seat back.   Yet people will expect us drivers to take a child in the car without being properly secured.

You might think that this is all common sense.  But the thing about common sense is that it's not common at all.  Time and again part of our job as drivers is to educate the public who seem to all have a bad case of TLDR (too long didn't read) when it comes to the Uber terms of service.

Today at 4pm I got another request for a ride... went to the location to find two 13 yr olds. I cancelled the ride and when mom texted I let her know that it was against terms of service.  She informed me that they (the kids) had been using Uber frequently since loading the app and didn't know.  . . . Told her our insurance won't cover us as well. She said "okay thanks". . . and a minute later there was another request for a ride from the exact same person at the exact same location....

Who ARE these people!?

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