CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A new Uber feature is available in the Corpus Christi area that allows teenagers to create a specialized account through their family profile. It will allow children ages 13 to 17 to request their own rides and order food with parental supervision and using key safety features.
Safety features include a PIN verification to help ensure that riders are getting in the correct car before their trip begins. There is also an audio recording option during rides that will save the encrypted file on the device.
"When a rider and/or driver uses this feature, the audio recording will be stored and encrypted on their phone so that no one—not even the person who initiated the recording—can access it," the company said.
Parents are able to constantly communicate with their child’s driver and track the car while the trip is in progress. Sensors and GPS data will also be used through the RideCheck feature to detect any irregularities of the driver going off course or stopping unexpectedly during the ride.
While these features are available for any Uber account, they will be automatically enabled for teenage users. They also cannot be turned off by the teen, driver, or parent.
Drivers must pass local screening and background check requirements before being able to receive trip and delivery requests from teens. This ensures that only highly rated, experienced drivers will receive requests from teenagers.
Wondering how you can set up a teen account?
In the Uber app, parents can invite their teens to create an account through their family profile. The teen will receive a link to download the app and create their new teen account. Each teenage user will also have to complete mandatory safety onboarding.
Drivers can opt out of receiving teen trips at any time.
TEGNA contributed to this report.
