to be irritated by the policeman...

[Yarnie]

...who stopped the cab I was in because my 16 month old was not in a car seat?! He was sat in my lap and in the end, they gave me the option of putting him in his buggy or putting him in an adult seatbelt in order to continue my journey!

I do not make a habit of travelling with him in a taxi, but we had been to a museum and he was feeling under the weather and it was rush hour so the buggy on the tube thing was likely to be grim.

I know the law does not require him to be restrained in a black cab, so he must have been having a bad day.

The law says you do not need a child restraint in the back of a taxi, no matter how daft the law is, the police officer was wrong. And I agree with ButterflyEffect (great name, BTW) an adult seatbelt is probably more dangerous than no restraint at all.

He needs retraining, thats bad. Agree that an adult seatbelt could be more dangerous. Was it a lapbelt? That can do all sorts of serious internal damage to a baby/toddler and a buggy is hardly likely to offer any protection. What did the cabbie have to say about it all?

yanbu i would have been annoyed by that
i wonder why he did it?! does he not know the law :S

Butterfly I feel funny, too, and I had mine on.

He cost me nearly £10 in cab fare, too as the meter was running while he lectured me on the incorrect law. I was a lawyer in a past life and it did take some wherewithal not to get into an argument with him - DC was yowling about being in his buggy, so nothing to be gained from it.

I agree with beertrickspotter - I would not be happy to let my DC ride with no seat belt in a black cab - legal or not, doesn't make it safe

I used to have a 70s car with no seatbelts - quite legal not to wear one.

I now have a 1985 van which had no seatbelts in the back seat. However van was built as a panel van with no rear seats and has been turned into a camper at some point, so not sure if it depends what year the backseat was put in if that makes a difference. Anyway I've put seatbelts in now, but back seat is made of plywood so not exactly sure how safe it is. Local garage say its death trap and that backseat will splinter in an accident!

In some ways, I agree, Beer. I think this is the second time that I have done it and I felt a bit uncomfortable, but I choose to do it anyway to save us both some stress.

My car seat is wholly unportable (no way I could carry it and my son). Perhaps if the law was changed they would come up with a portable, occasional-use car seat. Or maybe there is one already??

Still. The law is what it is, and I didn't appreciate being told the contrary by an officer of the law. Also, if I choose to take a risk with my son, that is one thing, but being forced to restrain him in a way that could potentially be more unsafe, sucks.

Oh, and the cabbie also knew the policeman was wrong but kept quiet for the sake of my shouty boy. He was pretty hacked off and offered me a big reduction on my fare, which was kind.