Uber is responding to concerns from a New York family after their 11-year-old made it to the airport on his own.
Jamel Josiah Johnson, 11, was seen on Ring camera video getting into an Uber at 5:55 a.m. Sunday, News 12 reported. His parents said they woke up in a panic when they realized their son was no longer at their Long Island home.
His parents said the 11-year-old is autistic. He goes by his middle name, Josiah.
“It was a feeling I wouldn’t want any other mother, father, brother, sister, aunt, uncle to ever experience,” Tenesha Johnson, Jamel’s mother, told News 12. “I didn’t know what was happening. I didn’t know where my son was.”
In the Ring camera video, you can see Josiah walk up to the car with a blue suitcase.
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“Hi. Are you the Uber?” he could be heard saying in the video. He then opens the rear passenger door and gets inside.
Josiah’s parents were shocked that the driver allowed him to get into the car without adult supervision.
“He doesn’t present as an adult. He looks like a kid. Why would you drive off?” Johnson’s mother told WPIX.
People reported that airport staff found the 11-year-old wandering around the terminal by himself. They contacted the Port Authority Police Department, which reunited the child with his parents.
First responders confirmed Josiah was not hurt. The child told WPIX that he wanted to go to Japan to see the city of Fukuyama.
“I’m just curious about what’s out there in Japan,” he said.
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Atlanta Black Star reached out to Uber about the situation.
“This is deeply concerning,” a spokesperson for Uber said. “We are relieved the child was reunited with their family and have been in touch with them. We take reports of this nature seriously and have a dedicated team of safety agents available 24/7 to investigate and address incidents.”
According to Uber, account holders must be 18 or older to order a ride. If not, they must be accompanied by an adult.
Underage riders can use Uber Teen accounts, which have a parental supervision feature. A parent or guardian must invite teens, 13-17, to create an account.
Jamel Johnson, Josiah’s father, said he noticed his phone was missing when he woke up that morning. He then used his wife’s phone to call it.
“[Port Authority] Police picked up,” the father told WPIX. “And that’s how we found out he was with them. They were like, ‘An Uber dropped him off. He got into the TSA line.”
Uber said it asks drivers to report riders who may be underage or who are not using a teen account.
“We have a team of former law enforcement professionals around the globe who are on call to work with police 24/7 to respond to urgent needs and walk them through how we can assist in an investigation,” an Uber spokesperson told Atlanta Black Star.
Uber said it will remove any underage rider from the platform if the company catches them breaking those policies.
Josiah’s parents told WPIX the driver should have known better.
“I don’t want another family to wake up like that again,” the father said.
The parents also told WPIX they only heard from an Uber safety agent after they tried to cancel the $47.05 charge for Josiah’s ride.
Atlanta Black Star reached out to the family but hasn’t heard back.
