uberFAMILY is where some Ubers have a car seat. Currently it only exists in a few cities worldwide.
The Car Seat Lady was instrumental in developing and implementing the uberFAMILY program in NYC, Philadelphia, and DC – specifically we selected the IMMI Go as the car seat to be used in the program, created the driver training program, created the parent education materials, and oversee every driver training session as well.
The Car Seat Lady was NOT involved in any part of the development or implementation of uberFAMILY in Orlando, or in the cities outside of the US where uberFAMILY also exists. Orlando and the other cities are not using the IMMI Go car seat, nor are they using the training model we developed.
We have emailed Uber Orlando and the Child Passenger Safety Instructor who told us she did the trainings for the Orlando drivers asking for clarification about the program, but have not heard back from either.
If you travel to Orlando, we recommend bringing your child’s own car seat that you know how to install properly, or using the Disney Shuttle.
The table below highlights the key differences between Orlando’s uberFAMILY and the program as it exists in NYC/Phila/DC where we were involved. Below the table are the complete emails we sent to Uber and the Instructor, as we want you to know our questions and the questions we’ve received from parents.
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We are getting questions from families regarding the uberFAMILY program in Orlando and are hoping you will answer these questions so that parents can understand the service being provided.
Why is there no minimum height requirement? Currently the seat with the highest height minimum (the Safety 1st Alpha Elite 65) has a 34 inch minimum height requirement. Since only 50% of 24 month old’s are 34 inches, this is an important restriction which must be communicated to parents before they use the program.
We are wondering how the seats will be installed – specifically which of the following will be used – seat belt, lower anchor strap, tether strap? Parents want to know what to expect and understand that there are limitations on these installation methods that vary according to the child’s weight, the specific car seat, and the vehicle.
Parents are also wondering how the drivers will know to make the necessary modifications within a specific car seat depending on the child’s weight. For example, the Maxi Cosi Pria 70 & 85 both require changing the recline position once the child reaches 40 pounds. Some of the Britax seats require changing the crotch buckle position for children over 30 pounds.
In addition, numerous of these seats – specifically the Maxi Cosi and Britax Frontier Click Tight – are known to have problems with adjusting the height of the shoulder straps after installation, which will require the child to be fitted in the car seat prior to installation. Parents are wondering how the driver will make the necessary changes with the child outside of the vehicle while still keeping the child safe in a busy roadside environment.
How will the seats be cleaned? How will they be inspected after cleaning to ensure proper reassembly? How often will they be cleaned?
How will the program handle recalls to these seats? 4 of the 12 seats have been involved in recent recalls. Have all of the seats currently affected by recalls been corrected?
Will drivers be assisting with buckling the child or is that the parents’ responsibility? Is the instruction manual or other materials available for parents to learn how to buckle their child in properly?
How will the program handle a broken seat? Specifically, the no-rethread harness mechanism is likely to break frequently on the seats (except the IMMI Go), and will require complete replacement of the car seat as this is not a fixable part.
We are continuing to get questions from families regarding the uberFAMILY program in Orlando and are hoping that you will help answer them.
We noticed the weight requirement changed from 22 to 25 lbs, but the height restriction was removed. Why is there no minimum height requirement? Currently the seat with the highest height minimum (the Safety 1st Alpha Elite 65) has a 34 inch minimum height requirement. Since only 50% of 24 month old’s are 34 inches, this is an important restriction.
Parents are also wondering how the drivers will know to make the necessary modifications within a specific car seat depending on the child’s weight. For example, the Maxi Cosi Pria 70 & 85 both require changing the recline position once the child reaches 40 pounds. Some of the Britax seats require changing the crotch buckle position for children over 30 pounds.
In addition the Maxi Cosi Pria’s and Britax Frontier Click Tight are known to have problems with adjusting the height of the shoulder straps after installation, which will require the child to be fitted in the car seat prior to installation. Parents are wondering how the driver will make the necessary changes with the child outside of the vehicle while still keeping the child safe in a busy roadside environment.
How will the seats be cleaned? How will they be inspected after cleaning to ensure proper reassembly? How often will they be cleaned?
4 of the 12 seats have been involved in recent recalls. Have all of the seats currently affected by recalls been corrected?
Parents are wondering how the 12 seats were selected. Why was the Marathon allowed, but not the Boulevard or Advocate? Why the Advocate CT, but not the Boulevard CT or Marathon CT? Why the Size4Me but not its identical siblings – the Fit4Me, MySize, and Headwise?
Will drivers be assisting with buckling the child or is that the parents’ responsibility? Is the instruction manual or other materials available for parents to learn how to buckle their child in properly?
We are concerned that drivers are required to acknowledge installing the car seat with the lower anchors when as Instructors we know that some of these seats were designed specifically for a seat belt installation and actually have hidden lower anchor straps to discourage their use. This section 8a was lifted verbatim from materials we had written – but taken out of context. We initially used this checklist after the drivers had completed the online, step by step video training and were starting the hands-on practice, but we quickly abandoned this as we found that 4 times of practice was woefully insufficient to ensure proper installation in the future. In addition, many of the drivers will not have 2-6 year old children, so requiring them to acknowledge that they have put a child in prior to attending a training session is putting them in a position to acknowledge something that isn’t true. We used Huggable Images dolls in our trainings.Parents are asking whether there was any in-person training with a CPST/I for the drivers? Was this training mandatory or optional?