SARASOTA, Fla. — It was a Sunday morning in August. Monika White poured herself a cup of coffee and went to her 14-year-old son's room to wake him up for work.
"He wasn’t there. So I thought he was in the bathroom or he was out with the dog or something, but I looked everywhere. He was nowhere. And — I couldn’t believe it. I was just in shock, so I was calling my husband. I said Vincent is gone," White said.
White and her husband searched the neighborhood and called everyone they could think of. Finally, their son answered.
“He said, ‘Mom, please come and get me.’ And I was like okay, just tell me where you’re at, you can tell me everything later, just tell me, and he said, ‘I’m on the street,'" White said.
White's son had been out with friends since a taxi picked him up from home around 1:00 in the morning.
“I asked him, 'How did that happen?'" White said. "And he said, 'Well, we used the ride service.'”
It was a local taxi service serving the Sarasota area.
“He told me that’s a service a lot of children are using because Uber requires a credit card," White said. “I said, 'Well, but you don’t have an account with them.' He said, 'No, you don’t have to, you just call and pay them cash.' I was like, I can’t believe it.”
White was upset, scared, and disciplined her child. Her concern then shifted to potential dangers and how these late-night, cash rides for teens are even possible.
White called the company.
“She just answered with, ‘Honey, we’re in the business of, you know, ride service. So if they call us and pay us — we deliver,’” White said.
The company told the ABC Action News I-Team that they don't question how old a customer is. They just get a call and show up. The owner declined the I-Team's request for an interview and said, through an employee, that they were operating within the law and did nothing wrong.
A report filed with the Sarasota Police Department said, "Monika states she is concerned that a taxi service would pick up a juvenile in the middle of the night and bring them anywhere without parent's permission. Monika asked this incident be documented."
“I read the news, and I see once a week, a child disappears. Bradenton. Sarasota. Anywhere. And in the back of my head, I’m thinking, 'How did they get away?'” White told the I-Team.
But other than minors potentially violating a curfew that kicks in at 11:00 at night, under Florida statute, the taxi company is right — there is nothing in state law preventing minors from receiving transportation.
“Parents do need ride service, I’m not saying it’s bad, in general, but they need to provide safety," White said. "They need to work with the parents.”
Recently, Uber agreed and launched Uber for teens in select cities, including Sarasota.
RELATED: Uber 'teen accounts' now available in Tampa
Unlike the Sarasota-based taxi company, the drivers don't only undergo a background check prior to being hired — they're re-screened every year.
A parent or guardian must invite their teen to create an account with their supervision. Parents can then follow along in the app with real-time updates to know when their child has arrived at their destination.
Parent Christie Bruner told ABC Action News earlier this month that she thinks she'd be open to using this in the future.
“My middle one is 15, about to get her license, about to turn 16," Bruner said. "They want to have their freedom, but cars break down, and things happen, and friends get sick that were supposed to drive them, and parents have to stay home or at work later, so I think this is really a great option.”
White said she just wants that option to come with more parental oversight that extends beyond Uber — and includes taxi companies.
“Until there are consequences that we can’t return anymore, if there’s an accident and we lose a child or a child overdoses because someone took them somewhere they shouldn’t be, or God forbid they just don’t come home, we don’t find out why. We can’t allow this. So I’m really hoping that we can have better laws in place, and then we can hold the companies accountable," White said.
You can call transportation companies directly to learn more about their policies when it comes to transporting minors.
Visit Uber's website for more information on how to set up an account for your teens.
Details: Teen accounts on Uber
This story came from a tip. If you have something you’d like the I-Team to investigate, email kylie.mcgivern@wfts.com.
