Black taxis: questions on the adjustable seat belt harness for children

[SouthLondonDaddy]

Black taxis (at least the newer models, not sure about the old ones) have an adjustable seat belt for the centre seat which I have not seen anywhere else.
Ordinary seat belts can be dangerous for children, because they tend to be too high up on the shoulder, when not directly on the face. These seat belts have an adjustable harness which can lower the height of the belt. We tried it on our 2.5-year old, ca. 89 cm tall, and easily adjusted it to what seemed to us like a perfect fit. Of course the seat belt does not come with an anaesthetic for unruly toddlers, but that’s a separate point!

My questions are:

What's the law on this? I am assuming it’s legal to carry children this way, but I have never seen this adjustable belt mentioned anywhere.

Regardless of what the law says, how safe is it? Is it some kind of compromise for short trips at low urban speeds, or is it comparable to a proper car seat? After all, the law allows children to travel without a car seat nor seat belt in some circumstances (see below).

Is this adjustable belt available anywhere else other than in black taxis?

The manufacturer’s website simply mentions “adjustable centre rear seat belt harness for children”
www.levc.com/new-vehicles/tx4-style-taxi/

The only picture I have found is this one (point 4): i0.wp.com/londontaxi.glutinum.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2016-11-16-Brochure-TX4-LTI-Vehicles-From-my-archive_Pagina_01-15.jpg

The law in the UK allows children to travel in taxis and minicabs:
Wearing an adult seat belt if they’re 3 or older
Without a seat belt if they’re under 3

www.gov.uk/child-car-seats-the-rules/when-a-child-can-travel-without-a-car-seat

but, AFAIK, doesn’t mention this adjustable seat belt.

Thoughts?

I have experienced two kinds of child seat in a black cab - with the best one you unzipped the seat and a little booster seat folded forward and i think you just used the seatbelt in the normal way (as the child was raised already.

The second kind just has a slider to make the belt the correct height on the shoulder. It does nothing for the lap part (so it may be over the stomach, rather than the hips where it should be).

There is no legal requirement for a child to wear a seatbelt in a taxi, so either of the above is better than nothing, although i suspect the latter is only 'good enough' if you are strict about these things (which i am/was). The former appeared safer, but again, i was so grateful that a good enough option was available that i didn't look too closely...

I'd carry a Bubblebum inflatable booster round rather than use a seatbelt that only adjusts the diagonal part to be away from he neck.

It's not the diagonal part of the seatbelt that is a problem for a young child. It's not dangerous for them to have it on their neck as such, but it's irritating and that can lead to the child putting their arm over the top of the seatbelt, which is dangerous.

The problem is the lap part of the belt - that must be low down across their pelvis, almost on the top of their thighs, but without any form of booster seat it's likely to be sitting far too high up on the child's abdomen.

I doubt it would be illegal to use it even on a child under 3.

If you're in a black cab sitting them on one of the rear facing seats with a seatbelt on ought to be better than nothing :)

I doubt it would be comparable to a proper car seat, it's always safer to use a car seat appropriate to their size and weight, but if you don't have one, it would be useful.

The main issue with seatbelts and young children is an injury pattern known as Seatbelt Syndrome which doesn't make for very nice googling. The issue is that they tend to be too small for the belt to fit properly over their thighs so they will slip through which causes the impact to be over their abdomen and soft area causing internal injuries. That's why harnesses for young children all have a strap between the legs, not just across the lap.

BTW a previous poster said that the height of the shoulder belt isn't a safety issue, just annoying, this isn't quite right either because if the belt isn't firmly across the collarbone it can cause neck injuries or slip off entirely which causes the child to be thrown forwards as though they were just wearing a lap belt, except worse, because a shoulder-and-lap belt with the shoulder part loose will be looser than a lap belt adjusted correctly. So there's a real danger that the child will be ejected from the seat entirely.

I have seen an adjustable belt like that in a coach and used it for DS when he was about 4 but it was in conjunction with a booster which they provided.