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Any responsible parent will tell you that each developmental stage of a child brings with it new challenges. In today’s world where both parents have full time jobs, picking your teenager up from school can be all but impossible. If this task is so strenuous in a two-parent home, it can only be ten times harder in single parent households.
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In an ideal world, every parent would have the luxury of fetching their adolescent children from school. E-hailing services have certainly simplified our transportation woes, at least to a certain degree.
On Thursday at its headquarters in Sandton, e-hailing platform Uber unveiled the Uber Teen feature with the aim of putting parents’ minds at ease for the safety of their children. Be it long working hours, long distances from work, out of town assignments or illness befalling parents, this feature aims to elevate the teens' safety.
From their accounts, parents and guardians will now be able to let their teenagers safely request their own rides. Although the teens will be invited to create their own accounts, the parents will still be able to monitor the trips and contact the drivers at any point during the trip.
@Uber_RSA introduces teen accounts, a safe ride solution for families. https://t.co/xZlylOs5By
— Nokuthula Khwela (@madamkhwela) April 11, 2024
Uber’s Sub-saharan Africa general manager Kagiso Khaole said:
Why Khaole’s statement makes sense is because work commitments and extra-murals are not the only restrictions faced by parents.
Teenagers are inclined to want to go out with friends and engage in activities with people their own age in parks, malls and the like. But even in these instances, in the world of parenting the safety of one’s children takes precedence.
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Parents will be relieved to find that the Uber Teen feature is only available to high-rated and experienced drivers. To avoid the concerns of borrowed profiles, a verification PIN is sent to the teen. The trip will not commence until the driver enters the correct PIN to their app in accordance with their registered cellphone number.
The option to change the destination is not available to the driver. As soon as the trip gets under way, an encrypted recording feature is automatically activated, which the driver does not have access to. In the event that an inappropriate conversation ensues, the clip can be attached to the complaint sent to Uber.
