Braisd

I was so excited about this...I thought this could be a real solution to the times when Scotty is out of town and I can't get both kids to two different places. I filled out the entire form, until...
I got to the part where I release My Ride from ALL responsibiliyty in the event of the injury or death of my child. So, let's say their driver is at fault in an accident (drunk? texting? runs a red light by mistake?)
I had a big problem with a company not taking responsibility for their workers. I understand a single lawsuit could mean the end of their business, but if a child is seriously injured, or worse, killed, due to the negligence of their driver...I can't imagine as a business owner just washing my hands of that...

Hi, I am the sister-in-law's husband's ex-wife (isn't everyone?) and the owner of My Ride, Inc. I am really interested in your comments: we want to get this right and make the service as safe and convenient as possible.

So here's the thing with the Release: If one of my drivers is drunk or texting while driving, that is illegal, and our waiver doesn't cover acts of fraud, willfulness, or violations of law. If your child is injured because one of my drivers was drunk or texting, you can be sure you can sue my company.

The service is designed to give parents every kind of "belt and suspenders" safety assurance possible: we spend a lot of money making sure our drivers are randomly drug tested by independent third parties, our cars are inspected and maintained by independent third parties, our drivers are trained, that we have equipment that lets you call me and say, "exactly where is my kid right this minute" and I can look at my computer screen and see via satellite the vehicle your child is in, I get a notification immediately if one of our vehicles is moving at a speed over the speed limit, etc. This is a big part of the reason the service is, as Chona noticed, not cheap :) I wouldn't put my kids into a car where the owner is not taking responsibility, either.

Our Release language is exactly the kind of thing you sign when your child goes on a field trip at school, and no more. Unfortunately, legal language has a tendency to look rude, no matter what. I'm going to look at the website language and see if we can be more clear.

Thanks for the response, SILHEW :) Since this post, I've had a few interesting conversations about whether this service would be valuable amongst my friends. (By the way, I think we're the wrong demographic as our kids are a touch too young). And, ultimately, it seems to come down to whether you have family around, full or part-time help that drives already or whether you can't afford to have that much help-- in which case, this product is probably too costly. Not one of my friends have mentioned liability as a deal-breaker for using MyRide, however. Everyone seems to agree that what is most interesting about the idea is using it for a party or a big group event as opposed to using it on a single-child basis. Best of luck and keep us posted on how things are going!

Thanks, SILHEW, for letting clarifying the legal jargon...it sounds much better when you say it than when I read it! The comparison you made to the release I sign when my child goes on a field trip at school was comforting, as I have signed those many times without worry. I can see using your service in the future, and I wish you great success!

I love the things you are blogging about. Keep it up!