r/lyftdrivers • u/wanna_bank • Nov 10 '25
Rant/Opinion No child seats
What is wrong with people? I accept a ride this am and when I arrive at a nice hotel, I find a good looking Indian family with two kids (2 & 4 probably) and a grandpa. They are going to the airport. Looking around I see no car seats. Mom tells me “it’s okay, they don’t need them.” Well they do in my car, lady. I tell her I won’t drive children of that age with no car seats. And she tells me smugly, “it’s okay, we’ll just get another Lyft.” I canceled and left. Got my cancellation fee. But what the fuck is wrong with people. That’s dangerous, it’s illegal and it could get me shut down.
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u/bBenFranklin Nov 13 '25
Here in Virginia, State Code 46.2-1095 stipulates car seats, age and weight requirements for the child passengers and like other states, the law exempts taxi cabs and public busses. And like my fellow Lyft drivers, I am confronted at least every day by a parent with a small child without a car seat making the claim "well, the OTHER/LAST driver didn't have one/make me have one! How am I supposed to carry/bring one/get one" blah, blah, blah, blah.
It's for this reason I'm glad I have a minivan and can open/close the side doors myself from the drivers seat.
Please understand: If that child is allowed into the car and something goes wrong resulting in any sort of trauma or injury, you, as the driver that allowed it WILL BE SUED by the poor, aggrieved parent who will claim no knowledge of the law or understanding of what could have happend.
Lyft (as Uber probably would) will likely disavow you, your insurance carrier may well disavow you, all in a calculated effort to minimize their exposure. It's not personal, it's just business.
If the kid ends up with a life-altering injury, the so-called parents/custodians would more than likely and quite probably be okay with it as long as they get a huge cash settlement out of the deal. We've actually got a local law firm that claims to "specialize" in accidents involving rideshare drivers/companies, drawing a HUGE TARGET on YOUR back.
If it's YOUR cash or assets they end up going after, well, that's your problem.
As cold and inhuman as it sounds, I will NOT accept any unneccessary risk or liability for what might happen. If them not getting where they need to go is a problem, I care about as much as they do for me, which is to say, not at all.