From the moment a child arrives on school property, to the moment he or she leaves, the school is responsible for his or her safety and well-being. For children who are bussed to school, the responsibility extends to the moment they are picked up to the moment they are dropped off. However, with the growing popularity of ridesharing services, such as Uber and Lyft, the number of students electing to bus to school has decreased. Despite this new trend, schools should not forget the duties they have to their students, and should educate themselves on potential liability that can arise if ridesharing goes awry.
Many ridesharing applications allow the user to plug in information on where the passenger wants to go and from where he or she would like to be picked up. Because users can dictate where to send the car for pick-up, many parents are requesting that cars go to their child’s school or practice to take them home if the parent gets held up. Once the request is made, the driver will go to the pick-up location, where the child will give their name and get in to be taken home.
Most ridesharing services have policies that prohibit minors from using the services without being accompanied by an adult; however, parents, students, and drivers often ignore these policies. While most Uber and Lyft rides go without issue, there is always the possibility that the passenger will not make it safely from point A to point B due to an accident or ill-intended driver. If this were to happen while a student was in the vehicle, what, if any, responsibilities does a school have?
Things to Consider
When a student leaves school premises or is otherwise released from the school’s care, the school may still have an obligation to ensure the child’s safety. If an unknown person, such as an Uber driver, picks up a child, the school will not be able to definitively say that the child is in safe hands since the school does not know the driver’s qualifications or history.
Uber and Lyft drivers are required to go through training and limited background checks, which do not provide the same level of scrutiny that the average taxi driver must meet, before they are cleared to carry passengers. Even with background checks, it is impossible for ridesharing companies to be certain that their drivers will behave in a professional manner. Over the past few years, there have been numerous deaths from accidents, and even more complaints of harassment, assault, and kidnapping.
The number of complaints should set off warning signals for schools. If something were to happen to one of the students on his or her way home, even if the student’s parent requested and approved the ride, the school may still be liable for negligence claims.
How to Respond
Because of schools’ obligation to ensure the safety of children in their care, they cannot simply turn a blind eye to the fact that parents are choosing to ignore the policies that prohibit the use of ridesharing services by minors.
Schools may consider implementing a policy that prohibits parents from using ridesharing services in order to pick up their children. This policy would be posted in school offices and provided to every employee, student, and parent in appropriate handbooks. However, having only a policy may not be enough to deter parents from taking advantage of what they see as a solution to their busy lives, especially since they are already ignoring similar policies.
If parents are going to continue to use Uber and Lyft to transport their children, schools may want to require them to sign waivers that release the school from its duties once the child is picked-up. In some states, waivers of this nature are not permitted, and would only lead to additional liability being placed on the school.
Schools may wish to strengthen or implement safeguards for monitoring who is authorized to pick up children. Under these systems, the designated monitor asks the student to point out which car they are going home in and say who the driver is. If the student is unable to identify the driver, then the monitor prohibits the child from leaving school grounds.
Alternatives
Preventing parents from using ridesharing services to transport their children is a difficult task for schools. However, developments within the ridesharing community may help put schools at ease and reduce some liability risks.
Although Uber and Lyft control a majority of the ridesharing industry, other companies, such as Shuddle and HopSkipDrive, are attempting to break in by providing rides that are specifically tailored to transporting children. The majority of drivers have a minimum of five years of childcare experience. Before being allowed to provide rides, these drivers go through further training as caregivers, which may enable them to sign children in and out of school and extracurricular activities. HopSkipDrive refers to its drivers as “caredrivers” to emphasize that they are caregivers first, and drivers second.
In addition to specialized training and more comprehensive background checks, ridesharing services with caredrivers have monitoring abilities that go beyond tracking location. These companies’ apps also require caredrivers to provide up-to-date information on additional services that they may offer other than transportation, such as preparing an afterschool meal or meeting with teachers.
Ridesharing continues to increase in popularity every year, with more people finding new ways to take advantage of the services. Although this raises concerns for schools that care for minors, there are ways in which the risks may be mitigated. Having students identify drivers before allowing them to enter a vehicle, or requiring parents to use specialized ridesharing services that have caredrivers, can help ensure that schools are placing children in the care and control of a responsible person.