Uber South Africa has launched a new service called Uber Teen Accounts, which is specifically tailored to enhance safety and peace of mind for parents and guardians with children aged between 13 and 17 years. This innovative feature enables parents and guardians to set up special Uber accounts for their teenagers, allowing the teens to independently request rides while still under the watchful eye of their guardians.

The introduction of Uber Teen Accounts signifies a notable shift from the company’s earlier policy, which restricted Uber account registration solely to individuals who were 18 years of age or older. With the new service, parents and guardians can now directly track their child’s location in real-time and receive frequent updates about the status of their trips.

The design of Uber Teen Accounts is centered around safety and parental supervision. It integrates essential safety mechanisms within the user experience, ensuring that the teens can travel securely while their parents have the tools necessary to supervise the journey. This move by Uber South Africa reflects a commitment to expanding its services to younger riders while maintaining high standards of safety and accountability for family members.

Uber has expended considerable effort in testing its Uber Teen Accounts service in various U.S. states since last year, culminating in a full-scale launch in California the previous month. The unveiling of the feature in South Africa was prominently addressed at a recent Johannesburg event by Kagiso Khaole, General Manager for Uber in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Khaole emphasized that the new addition is an extension of Uber’s extensive safety features, specifically designed to provide parents with assurance and oversight when their teenage children need transportation.

Khaole reiterated that the core principle behind teen accounts is transparency, ensuring clarity and no surprises for all parties involved – the parents, teens, and the Uber drivers. He expressed enthusiasm about bringing such an innovative option to South African families, with a focus on embedding critical safety features throughout the entirety of the service.

The concept underscores a parent’s ability to stay informed, receiving instant notifications and following the journey via live tracking as their children travel to various activities like internships or sports practices. Uber’s commitment, Khaole assures, remains firmly on the safety of teens and facilitating family mobility.

Uber outlines that setting up a teen account starts with a parent or guardian sending an invitation link to their teenager’s phone. Upon receiving the link, teens download the Uber app, create their account, and undergo a necessary safety orientation. Once this process is completed, teens gain the independence to arrange rides, while parents retain real-time oversight of the account’s activity.

Highlighting the security measures, Khaole notes that only well-rated drivers who have met local standards and passed requisite background checks will be eligible to receive ride requests from teen account users. Furthermore, drivers retain the right to opt-out of the teen trip service whenever they choose.

The Uber Teen Accounts come equipped with features like live trip-tracking, in-app audio recording, and mandatory PIN verification, which requires the teen to provide a unique PIN to the driver before the trip can commence. Parents and guardians also have the option to communicate directly with the driver at any point during their teen’s journey.

Uber’s RideCheck feature uses sensors and GPS to track anomalies such as unexpected stops or deviations from the route. The app then queries both the teen and the driver to confirm their well-being.

Lastly, the teen and the trip’s security is bolstered by the PIN code system, which forbids the ride from starting until the correctly matched PIN is entered. The audio recording feature adds another layer of security by allowing trip sounds to be recorded within the app, while ensuring privacy through encryption.

Khaole concludes by ensuring that these recordings are kept secure and inaccessible to unauthorized listeners, thereby reinforcing the fundamental pillars of safety and security for teen riders.

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