To not quite understand why children are allowed on laps in taxis

[Discopanda]

Apparently there was a thread on here recently about mums taking their kids to the doctors in a taxi without a car seat. I've had a similar experience before when I've ordered a taxi to pick up older kids that I've been babysitting, requested a car seat for DD and it's turned up without one. Surely a taxi is just as likely to have a car crash as any other car? It wouldn't cost that much for taxi stations to keep a couple of seats in case they are requested.

How many seats would a taxi firm need to store? Different sizes for different-sized dc... How would they stand up to being put in and out of the taxi all day? How often would they need to be safety-checked? How might this affect insurance? I can see why they don't.

What Hirples said.

It would be pretty much impossible really.

I guess it's to allow for emergency situations, when you may need to transport a child somewhere very quickly and don't have access to your own car/car seat.

I think it's wrong, but children 3 and over can use an adult seat belt in a taxi, children under 3 can ride without any seat belt at all. There has to be some logic at work there, but it's beyond me.

The taxi firm closest to us carries high-back booster seats in some of their cars. Passengers can request them if they're travelling with children. Whenever we fly on holiday if we taxi it to the airport the DCs both have to sit on a proper seat, I wouldn't travel without them.

If you want to ride in a taxi and you want your child to ride in a carseat then you should provide it and fit it yourself. I cant imagine any taxi driver (or company) wanting to take the risk of seats being incorrectly fitted themselves.

It wouldn't cost that much for taxi stations to keep a couple of seats in case they are requested.

Where are these taxi stations? You are assuming that taxis are sent out from some central point when you call them, whereas the reality is that most of them will come to you from their previous job rather than going to somewhere that a car seat can be stored.

I was thinking about thai yesterday for some reason - it's not like taxis have magic non-crash powers. I wouldn't want to put a child in a taxi here - the driving is terrifying most of the time!

It is the parents responsibility to ensure their child has the car seat. I can imagine the huge issues taxi companies would have if they took on this responsibility.

It's Parental choice and I think it should stay that way. Otherwise taxi fares would go up, for everyone, or emergency trips without one, would not be allowed.

The wait would be longer, for a taxi to pick up a seat.

This would then cross over to buses.

I'm a sticker for fire guards etc, but I don't believe the accident injuries at low city speeds warrant an extension of the law.

Any parent has the option of using their own. I think it's often forgotten on here that many people aren't car owners and won't be whilst their children would need a car seat.

Just to add, "our car seats", in my former workplace had to be under 12 months old, stored in a safe manner (open to inspection) and documented checks had to be done, as well as cleaning.

"A couple of car seats hanging about", wouldn't cut it.

I think it's the responsibility of the parent to provide the seat for the child. I'd never let my dc travel without seats. It does seem a simple solution that firms have a few seats lying around but it just wouldn't work, the seats may become damaged, too old, be fitted incorrectly etc.
while out shopping I once saw a family with baby in a car seat on a pram frame, family got into taxi, removed baby from pram/car seat and put both in the boot and sat baby on their knee! Baffled me

It's just for practical reasons.

What if the taxi company keeps a couple of seats but they are all in use when someone with children needs them?

Once a child is out of an infant seat, group 1 seats take up a lot of space and the parent can't carry one around. It just isn't practical.

yanbu. I had to use a black cab with ds once and I was terrified something would happen.

It just seems funny that they are allowed to insurance wise. When I was little in the 1990s it was pretty common practise for me to sit on my mum's knee when we got lifts because she didn't drive and there'd often be 4 or 5 other kids in the back.

Considering there aren't even seat belts in a bus/train, it seems odd to target taxis. But I could just be biased as I can't imagine getting off a long haul flight and having to arrange an appropriate child seat as well as deal with a different language/currency/tired kiddo.

YANBU. It's completely about convenience and not the child's safety. The law should change imo. I don't drive but have carried a car seat around with me on the rare occasion I've had to use a taxi with dc (about 4 times in seven years!). I once carried three car seats around London all day!

Buses are safer than cars due to the size of the vehicle and speed it travels at and also involved in far fewer accidents, as are trains.

Yes, it would be a pain dutch but preferable to your child dying, surely? Why wouldn't you take your own seat in that situation?

What age children are you carrying car seats for littlejohnny? Easy to carry around booster seats or an infant carrier on a pram, slightly harder to carry around one toddler seat let alone 3.

little Johnny just why

3 car seats, all day, around London? bonkers

YABU

It's more important that children can travel in emergencies. If you made it illegal to travel without a car seat, taxi firms would just refuse to take children

If I was a taxi driver I wouldn't want to be responsible for having to correctly fit various sizes of car seat.
Can you imagine if there was a crash and the seat was found to be incorrectly fitted?

What sort of emergency requires the use of a taxi?

Um, child falls and strikes head, not a 999 ambulance emergency, but child needs attention? I can think of lots more...

(And neither parent drives/has a car...)