Can a Minor Take an Uber? Teen Accounts, Safety, and Liability

Yes, a minor can take an Uber, but only in two ways: through an Uber teen account set up by a parent or guardian, or as a passenger accompanied by an adult account holder for the entire trip. A child cannot legally ride alone on a standard adult account, and doing so can get the account suspended.

The Basic Age Rule

Uber’s Community Guidelines require account holders to be at least 18 years old. An adult account holder cannot request a ride for anyone under 18 unless that person is accompanied by the account holder or another adult for the whole trip. The only exception is a ride booked through an authorized teen account.¹

So a parent can’t book a ride on their own account and send a 14-year-old off alone. The adult who books the trip has to be in the car. Violating this rule can result in temporary or permanent loss of access to the platform.²

Teen Accounts: The Official Way for Minors to Ride Alone

Uber’s teen account program lets riders between 13 and 17 request their own rides and order food through Uber Eats, all under a parent or guardian’s supervision. The teen gets their own app, and the parent keeps visibility into every trip.³

Teen accounts are live across most U.S. states and cities. California is one notable exception: teen accounts there work for Uber Eats but not for rideshare. Availability keeps expanding, so check Uber’s teen account page for your area if you don’t see it listed.³

When a teen turns 18, the account converts automatically to a standard Uber account with full access. They can still appear on the Family profile after conversion so parents can keep following their rides, as long as the family connection stays active.³

How to Set Up a Teen Account

Setup takes a few minutes inside the parent’s Uber app:

Open the app, tap Account, then Family and Teens, and start a Family profile.
Tap Invite Family, select Teen, and choose your teen’s name from your contacts. They must be at least 13.
Confirm that your payment information is current, since teen rides bill to the parent’s account.

The teen receives a text invitation and has to complete a mandatory safety onboarding before their first ride. By creating the account, the parent attests they have legal authority to act on the teen’s behalf and have consulted with any other parent or guardian.³

Safety Features Built Into Teen Rides

Teen accounts come with safety features that are always on and can’t be turned off. Several of them go beyond what a standard adult account offers.

PIN verification. Before the trip starts, the teen gives the driver a unique PIN. The driver can’t begin the ride without entering the correct code, which helps confirm the teen is getting into the right car.
Live trip tracking. Parents get a notification each time their teen requests a ride, can follow the trip in real time, and are alerted when the teen arrives.
Unexpected event alerts. Uber uses GPS and sensor data to detect if a ride goes off route, stops unexpectedly, or ends early. Both the teen and parent get a check-in message.
Audio recording. Teens can opt to have each trip automatically recorded. Recordings are encrypted and stored on the device.
Emergency access. The app has direct buttons to call 911, contact Uber Support, or report an issue mid-trip.

⁴

Audio recording is genuinely private. No one has access to a recording by default, not the driver, not Uber, and not the parent. Uber can only access it if the rider reports a safety incident and chooses to attach the file. The same standard applies to any recording the driver makes.⁵

Uber also limits which drivers can accept teen trips. Drivers must have high ratings, a solid track record of completed rides, and clear a background check beyond the standard screening.

What Happens If a Minor Rides on an Adult’s Account

Drivers are trained to notice passengers who look underage. If a driver suspects the rider is a minor traveling without an adult on a standard account, they’re expected to decline the trip. The driver can cancel using the “unaccompanied minor” reason, which protects them from a cancellation penalty.

When that happens, the account holder who booked the ride gets flagged. Uber doesn’t publish a specific violation count that triggers a ban. The policy states that account holders who break the age rules may temporarily or permanently lose platform access, and the language is intentionally flexible enough for Uber to act on even a first offense.²

Riding With an Adult on a Standard Account

If you’d rather skip the teen account setup, an adult can simply accompany the minor. Any account holder who is 18 or older can bring a minor along, as long as the adult is present for the entire trip.¹

An 18-year-old sibling or friend counts. Uber’s policy doesn’t distinguish between an older sibling supervising a younger one and an unrelated adult supervising a minor. The one non-negotiable is that the account holder has to be physically in the car for the whole ride, not booking it remotely.²

Insurance and Liability Risks of Breaking the Rule

Sending a minor in an Uber without proper authorization creates an insurance question most parents don’t consider until something goes wrong. Uber carries commercial insurance that covers passengers during active rides, but that coverage is built around compliance with the platform’s terms. If a minor is riding in violation of those terms, whether a claim would be fully honored becomes an open question no parent wants to test after an accident.

The account holder also carries personal exposure. Uber places the obligation on the person who requested the trip, so if an unaccompanied minor is injured, the account holder could face questions about negligent supervision on top of losing platform access.

What About Lyft

Lyft’s framework is nearly identical. Riders must be at least 18 for a standard Lyft account, and passengers under 18 aren’t allowed to ride without an adult. Lyft offers a teen program through Family Accounts for ages 13 to 17, and teens on Lyft may bring authorized guests who are at least 13.⁶

Lyft goes one step further on enforcement: riders who get multiple reports for appearing underage must complete identity verification. During that review, the account is frozen and no rides can be requested until a Lyft agent reviews the submitted documents.⁶

1
Uber. Uber Community Guidelines
2
Uber Blog. Our Guidelines for Trip Requests From Minors
3
Uber. Teen Accounts on Uber
4
Uber Help. Uber for Teens FAQs
5
Uber Help. Audio Recording
6
Lyft Help. Safety Policies