Uber drivers say they are encouraged to pick up children despite the rules in effect

An Uber driver arrives at an address to pick up a passenger only to discover that the person requesting the journey is a single child.

This happens all the time in the United States, even if it goes against the terms of service of the company.

Uber requires all account holders to be at least 18 years old and explicitly prohibit children from driving without an adult. But, as a 12-year-old girl had committed suicide after taking an Uber herself, this policy did not deter parents and children from using the service, nor did it prevent drivers from using the service. carry.

"It's painful to give up," said Jeff Byrnes, a former Uber pilot based in Southern California. "You get a big push and you stop and it's a minor." Most drivers will not refuse this largely because they can not afford it.

Rather than encouraging drivers to reject driving requests for kids, current and former drivers told BuzzFeed News that Uber urged them to accept all outings, that they were against enforcement policies or not. These incentives take the form of bonuses and price increases, as well as penalties for drivers who cancel or accept fewer trips.

"They will punish you if you refuse trips with minors, if you refuse trips with babies without a car seat, if you refuse trips with too many passengers," said Dave F., who drives in time partial for Uber in the Chicago area. They will say, "No, we do not want you to do that," but in fact, the way they handle all their bonuses and rewards is exactly what they do. "

From time to time, Uber offers drivers a consecutive driving bonus, which earns them extra pay if they accept three consecutive rounds, but if drivers cancel their contract for reasons, including an unaccompanied minor , they lose the extra money, said Dave F. asked that his last name not be published for fear of reprisals from his employers.

Canceling a ride can also have a negative impact on the cancellation rate of drivers, which they must keep to a minimum in order to continue to receive rewards. As their wages declined, drivers became more dependent on these rewards programs.

"These guys are so desperate to make ends meet that they will literally be looking for anyone," said Jonathan Cousar, forum manager for Ridester, an online resource for carpool drivers.

Uber has not responded to BuzzFeed News questions about steps to be taken to prevent youth under 18 from creating accounts and parents not to hail their children's rides, but motorists say that Has been a problem for years. a real effort to fix it.

Instead, it is the drivers' responsibility to enforce the policy, placing them in a difficult position for some.

"I'm not a bartender, I'm a driver, so asking for a piece of identity seems a little weird," said Cousar, who drives part-time for Uber in New York. "It really puts us in a precarious position."

Cousar added that sometimes drivers do not even see the faces of runners. If they start a ride before realizing that their passenger is a minor, they risk getting a bad customer rank.

"If we do what is right, we will surely have a star, which will always worry us," he said.

The application of the policy may also prove to be too burdensome for the drivers and waste them time and money.

Before Uber added the phrase "unaccompanied minor" as a reason for canceling the ride in the application, drivers had to call the company's support team to report the accident. # 39; user. Now, even when they cancel the ride, some drivers have stated that they do not always receive a cancellation fee, which is usually $ 3.75.

"I know the few times I've used that I've always had to call and spend a lot of time for them to pay me the cancellation fee," Dave said. F. "It's not worth it."

Some drivers may not even know that collecting unaccompanied children is contrary to company policy. Several Uber drivers who spoke to BuzzFeed News admitted they did not know that it was against the terms of service when they started driving, explaining that they had to skim when they registered for service.

"Many drivers do not really read it," said Dylan Esparza, who runs the Rideshare Hub YouTube channel.

Byrnes said the drivers also received confusing information about the policy. In one such case, Uber sent a thank-you email in November to drivers who listed the reasons why people use the service, including "the parent too busy to be present after football training." . ".

Shortly after, the company said in a statement that the email "did not comply with our policy" and stated that he regretted any confusion.

The Uber app is deemed appropriate for kids from Apple and Google app stores, allowing kids to download the service even if their parents have set an age limit. A spokesman for Uber told BuzzFeed News that the ratings only indicate that "the content is secure" and have "nothing to do with Uber 's age policy, who is 18 years old and over ".

"They do not want to prevent children from using the platform, very clearly," said Byrnes, who has repeatedly urged the company to adopt an age verification process when runners create accounts. "It's not that they can not, they just will not … because they know they will suffer a significant drop in attendance."

Benita Diamond, a 12-year-old girl from Florida who died by suicide in January after taking Uber to downtown Orlando, was able to create an account using only a name, an email address and an email address. gift card that she received for Christmas to her family.

Now, the girl's family is asking Uber to do more to enforce her policy and prevent children from going for walks without an adult.

"This will happen to another child or teenager if I do not do anything yet," said daughter's mother, Lisha Chen, at a press conference on June 6. "If they do not apply it, then it's useless."

Uber claims that account holders who violate its policy on minors "may lose access" to the application, but the frequency with which this occurs is unclear.

"I do not have any statistics or figures to share, but I can confirm that our support team is reviewing the reports and taking appropriate action to address them, including removing someone's access to it." one to Uber, "said a spokesman for the company.

One morning, a few months ago, Dave F. decided to see for himself whether Uber had acted on the information provided by the drivers about unaccompanied minors.

After refusing to drive a child of 14 or 15 years old to school, he reported that the account was an unaccompanied minor, then crossed the corner and waited.

"I was just curious to see what would happen," Dave F. said. "I waited about 4 or 5 minutes and another Uber arrived … and this driver took them."

The national suicide prevention lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. You will find other international hotlines at befrienders.org. You can also send a TALK SMS to the number 741741, free of charge and anonymously in the United States, via the Crisis text line.