ORLANDO, Fla. (WESH) – A family is demanding answers from Uber after they say their 12-year-old daughter hailed a ride in the middle of the night and then jumped off a downtown Orlando parking garage.
The family of Benita “BB” Diamond said Thursday that their daughter would still be alive if the driver had followed Uber’s policy on transporting minors.
Diamond used her mom’s phone to download the Uber app in the middle of the night on Jan. 10, her family said.
They said she then rode twenty miles from her family’s neighborhood near Lake Nona to downtown Orlando, walked up to the top of a parking garage, left a note saying she was “passed the point of no return,” and then jumped.
Her parents said she was never allowed to use ride-share apps before and took her mother’s phone because her own was locked. Diamond paid for the ride with a gift card she got for Christmas, her parents said.
“I think if Uber had followed their policy, without a doubt our daughter would still be here. That would have been the one red flag we would have caught. There is no way she’s getting away with that in our household. We were too much active parents,” her father said.
The parents said they want Uber to enforce its policy that minors shouldn’t ride alone, especially not without checking for parental consent.
The family said they are considering a lawsuit against Uber.
“If she’d been asked, where’s your mom and dad? We believe she would’ve been here,” said attorney Laura Douglas.
WESH 2 News reached out to Uber Thursday and was told by a company spokesperson that the matter was not reported to them over the last six months. They said the company is investigating and “will take appropriate action.”
The company recently reminded drivers about its policy on underage drivers through a blog post about its guidelines.
“If they are under 18, please decline the trip and report it to Uber. Note that refusing or canceling trips on this basis will not impact your driver rating or account status,” the company’s post read.