If you are under the age of 18 and need to travel somewhere, you may be wondering if you can use Lyft. Ride-hailing services have become increasingly popular among people of all ages, but it’s important to know the rules and regulations surrounding their use.
In the case of Lyft, their terms of service state that riders must be 18 years of age or older to use the platform. However, there are some exceptions that allow minors to use the service under certain conditions. In this article, we will explore whether or not minors can use Lyft and under what circumstances.
Can You Use Lyft Under 18?
No, according to Lyft’s terms of service, riders must be 18 years of age or older to use the platform. Minors can only use Lyft if they are accompanied by an adult who will take responsibility for the ride. Additionally, the adult must have their own Lyft account and must request the ride on behalf of the minor.
Lyft has a strict policy and no one under 18 is allowed to register on the Lyft app. Talking about riding, most of the carriers providing services to Lyft are aware of the policy and instructed not to give a ride to underage minors.
When a child is riding without anyone responsible for them it can create many safety issues. In the past, there have been incidents when policies weren’t strict as today. Underage minors riding unaccompanied were kidnapped by drivers and this sparked a major backlash.
Reason Why Minors Cannot Ride Lyft Unaccompanied
Due to safety reasons, it is important for underage riders to always be accompanied by an adult who is responsible for them. The incidents in the past have left a deep impact on parents for the safety of their children.
Still, in recent days many underage teens call Lyft to ride to reach their destination. These policies were created for them so they need to understand it is for them. What if something happens and due to the drivers being independent the company isn’t responsible for anything.
Mostly every teen knows that they aren’t allowed to ride unaccompanied and if they still do it they would be responsible for it. That is why teens need to understand the benefits of such policies.
How to Use Lyft As an Underage Minor
The only way for underage minors to use Lyft is to be accompanied by an adult. There has to be someone above 18 to be responsible for the child during the ride.
There have been some incidents in the past, not in Lyft but in other similar service providers. That is why companies now don’t allow underage minors to ride without an adult.
Is It Safe For Teens To Use Lyft From Their Parent’s Phone?
Not at all, be it from anyone’s, teens using Lyft and calling rides for themselves is not safe at all. The owner of the phone should be aware of what the teen is doing and the policy of Lyft.
Calling the ride and thinking of traveling alone can land them in trouble. Not only the driver can cancel the ride if they notice that the rider is underage but they can report the account it was called from.
Account suspension is one of the common penalties Lyft can impose on the account holder.
Can Under 18 Use Lyft Ride-Sharing Services?
It still is not possible to use ride-sharing or any other service by Lyft if the rider is underage. Sometimes, if the rider is 17 it can be difficult for the driver to notice. The drivers are only allowed for photo ID confirmation if they are suspicious of something.
Many parents think in ride-sharing services there are other adults so the child will be accompanied. But that is what they think is wrong about it. Those adults are strangers and won’t be responsible if anything happens to your child.
Lyft Drivers Can Cancel Ride at Their Discretion
The drivers can cancel the ride anytime if they feel something wrong. Ensuring the safety of the driver and rider would be the best thing to do by the driver. There have been incidents where some drivers have received backlash due to their behavior of not allowing starting the ride.
But what no one knows is the reason why drivers have to do this. Here are some of the top reasons why a driver can cancel the ride.
- Possession of weapons
- Possession of drugs and other illegal substances
- Smoking
- Rider is drinking
- Irrational behavior
- Sexual harassment
- Abusive language
- Extra long rides
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