An Uber driver said they turned down a ride request after a mother asked if her child could sit on her lap so that all five family members could fit into the car. According to a post shared on Reddit by user u/Chemical_Store1560, the driver arrived at a gated community to pick up a family of five, including one child, and told them the car could only hold four passengers. The driver said the mother then suggested the child sit on her lap, telling the driver it would only be a five-minute ride. The driver said they told her this was not allowed and that it put the child at risk, according to the post. The mother reportedly responded by saying, “it’s my child, I’m willing to risk it.” The driver said they then canceled the ride and called Uber’s safety line to report the incident, explaining in the post that they did so because the same request could likely be made to another driver afterward. Rider’s account was suspended pending investigation, driver says The driver said they had the app’s trip recording feature turned on, which they noted captures audio and video before a trip officially begins. According to the post, this recording helped support the report submitted to Uber. The driver said they later received a notification stating that the rider’s account had been suspended while the matter was reviewed. Uber’s official guidelines read: “If a child does not appear to be within the height and weight safety requirements for the car seat, or if a driver otherwise feels that the child cannot be safely transported in the seat, the driver can cancel the ride.” STOP asking your driver to do illegal things byu/Chemical_Store1560 inuber Several users responded to the post with their own accounts of similar situations. One commenter wrote, “customers want understanding and empathy when they do wrong meanwhile if the kid gets hurt that all goes out the window immediately!” Another commenter described a separate incident, saying, “Yea had a mom 2 babies no car seat. Tried to be nice about it but she wasn’t happy about me canceling told her can’t have no babies flying out my car.” That commenter added that the passenger allegedly tried kicking their car after the ride was canceled, though this claim was not independently verified. Other commenters expressed support for the driver’s decision. One wrote, “As a rider….thank you for being responsible!” Another suggested the driver’s choice to cancel the ride may have prevented future legal complications, writing, “This could be a lawsuit for you if there is a head bump or something, or even manslaughter if the worst happened.” A separate commenter said, “It would be smart to have a car seat rental in Uber as well. If they don’t have a car, they may not invest in a new car seat.” The Reddit post was shared in the r/uber community and has drawn attention to how drivers are expected to handle situations involving child passenger safety. Drivers have ended up in the middle of other passengers’ personal situations too, like one rider’s breakup plans that played out in the back seat Uber has not issued a public statement specifically addressing the gated community incident described in the Reddit post. Child safety has come up in other Uber-related accounts as well, including one Florida mom who left her kids with a driver and didn’t return for hours.