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Uber Wants Kids as Young as 10 in Your Back Seat — Here's Why That Should Worry Kiwi Drivers

  • Writer: Paul Strand
    Paul Strand
  • Aug 15
  • 2 min read

🚗💬 By The Rideshare Guy | Rideshare News

Right, so Uber's at it again. 🗞️ Bloomberg dug through the code in the latest Uber iOS app and found the company is quietly building a "Tween" ride option — letting parents book rides for kids as young as 10 to 12, under a Family profile. 👶🚗

To be fair, an Uber spokesperson says this "isn't a live product" and right now the only under-18 option is the Teen account for 13-17 year olds, which has been running in 50+ countries since 2023. But the code doesn't lie — background-checked drivers, PIN verification, live trip tracking, a "trusted adult" contact, and a requirement that a grown-up is physically present at pickup and drop-off. That's a lot of safety scaffolding for something that "isn't happening." 🙄

Here's my honest reaction as a driver: I don't want a 10-year-old in my car. Full stop. ⚠️ Not because kids are hard work — because the liability, the awkwardness, and the risk all land on ME, not on Uber's Delaware-registered lawyers. If something goes wrong with a passenger who legally can't consent to being there alone, who do you think Uber's PR team throws under the bus first? 😤 It won't be them.

Is this good or bad for NZ drivers? Bad — cautiously. 📉 Nothing's confirmed for NZ, and Uber hasn't even confirmed a global rollout, let alone here. But Uber has a well-worn playbook: quietly test a feature offshore, wait for the headlines to cool off, then roll it out "based on customer demand" once nobody's watching closely. If Tween rides eventually land in NZ the way Teen accounts have spread internationally, drivers here get zero say in whether we opt in. 🤖

Right now: nothing changes for us. No opt-in, no new fares, no new training. It's a "watch this space" story, not a "call your insurer" story — yet.

Down the track: if this does roll out, expect it to arrive with vague safety marketing and thin driver protections, same as every other Uber feature that shifts risk onto the person behind the wheel. I'd want written assurance that drivers can decline Tween trips without penalty, and that Uber — not the driver — carries the can if something goes sideways. Based on past form (the deactivation fights, the "insurance and operational expenses" line on our receipts), I wouldn't hold my breath. ⚖️

This one's still speculative — Uber itself says it's not live — so take it as an early warning, not confirmed policy. But forewarned is forearmed. 🚕

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