The ride-sharing company Uber has introduced Uber for Teens in the Lafayette/Lake Charles area.

LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- Running late to pick up your kid from high school? Parents of teenagers in Acadiana now have a new way to get them where they need to go.

The ride-sharing company Uber has introduced Uber for Teens in the Lafayette/Lake Charles area.

The program is available to Uber users through the mobile app. Parents can add teens between the ages of 13-17 to their family account. The teen will then recieve a text with onboarding instructions.

Uber for Teens allows teens to order a ride, or even food through Uber Eats, but not without permission.

According to the Uber website, "With a teen account, they’ll have the freedom to request their own rides and order their own meals, all under your supervision. Plus, with live safety features and real-time updates, you can follow along from pickup to dropoff."

If you enroll in the program you’ll receive notifications every time your teen requests a ride or orders a meal with Uber Eats. You’ll also be able to follow along in the app with live trip tracking and get status updates so you can check that their food has arrived and/or that your teen has gotten where they need to go.

"Your teen will always be matched with highly rated and experienced drivers and couriers. Before anyone can drive with Uber, they must undergo a thorough background check—and they’re rescreened every year," according to the Uber website.

Also, teen trips are destination-locked, which means drivers cannot change the destination of the trip, only the teen rider can. While a teen is on a ride requested through a teen account, guardians will be able to contact their drivers directly through the app.

As an extra safety measure, riders and/or drivers can record audio on their devices through the Uber app. Recording will begin just before the trip starts. Teen riders can opt in to this feature to have audio recorded on every trip.

In an emergency, you or your teen can use the in-app Emergency Button to contact 911. You’ll both also have access to Uber’s safety incident reporting line while the trip is in progress.

According to the company's website, the safety features for teen accounts on Uber are built into the experience and cannot be turned off, including live trip tracking, PIN verification, RideCheck, and Uber’s safety line. In addition, RideCheck will be adjusted to be more sensitive during teen trips.

"If the app detects something may have gone wrong, like a possible crash or an unexpected long stop, the teen and driver will receive a message to make sure they’re ok," the website says.

More information on the program can be found on the Uber website, and in the mobile app.