Is Uber responsible for 12 year old Orlando, Florida girl’s suicide death? Benita ‘BB’ Diamond kills herself after catching ride service to downtown location 20 miles from home.
An Orlando, Florida family has blamed Uber for their 12 year old daughter’s suicide death after the limousine riding app service picked up the child and drove her to a location where she soon after jumped to her death.
Benita ‘BB’ Diamond was picked up by a driver in the middle of the night on Jan. 10 despite the app’s policy against transporting minors, KCCI reported.
‘If Uber had followed their policy, without a doubt, our daughter would still be here,’ her father Ronald Diamond said during a Thursday press conference.
Her family said the girl took her mother’s phone to download the app then used a gift card she received for Christmas to pay for the ride.
While her parents were asleep, she was picked up in the Uber and driven to a nine-story parking garage in downtown Orlando, some 20 miles from the family home, where she jumped from the top to her death.
The girl left behind a note saying she was ‘past the point of return.’
‘Uber took my daughter past the point of no return,’ the father insisted during Thursday’s press conference. ‘Nobody else did. We didn’t.’
Benita ‘BB’ Diamond suicide: Uber promise to enforce policy against transporting minors.
Friends and family described Benita as being full of life, an avid scholar, full of life and held a bright future in front of her- all taken away as a result of Uber not following its own policy of transporting minors.
The family said they’re now considering taking legal action to demand changes to the way Uber and other ride-share companies enforce their policies involving minors and age restriction policy.
‘This will happen to another child or teenager if I don’t do anything right now, if I don’t make sure Uber, or Lyft or any share-ride company enforces their policy,’ Benita’s mother, Lisha Chen said via the Orlando Sentinel. ‘They have a policy in place, but if they don’t enforce it, it’s useless.’
An Uber spokesperson said the incident wasn’t reported in the last six months, but they are investigating and have pledged to take appropriate action.
The company recently reminded drivers about its policy on underage drivers through a blog post about its guidelines Wesh2 reported.
‘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.
Not immediately understood is if Benita had been undergoing depression prior to her suicide death and whether her family had missed out on potential signals which could’ve led to them getting treatment for their daughter.
