travelling with baby in black cabs

[ksmum]

Hi, I am trying to find out if it is safe to travel with my toddler (18 months)in her buggy in a black cab. The cab company said it was but I am notsure I trust them. I can't drive (have tried and failed test 5 times) and buses are OK but a bit of a pain and thetube is a nightmare.

Does anybody know?

I always put the pram in the back of a black cab, it's so much easier than getting buses home from town or when trying to get somewhere quickly. I'm quite paranoid about car safety but have always felt safe doing it. Another thing I've done is booked a cab that has 'wheelchair access' and put the pram in the wheelchair space and the driver can strap the pram in really securely!

DD has often travelled in her buggy in the back of a black cab. Imo it is relatively safe.

it's fine

i know im late, but ive done it lots of times too. seems safe enough to me.
when you have them on the bus, theyre not strapped in there either, are they? nor in fact is anyone else...

I've always done this quite happily for the last five years with both of mine at different stages but the last couple of times I tried to do it with dd (big toddler size now) the driver wouldn't let me on safety grounds. This is in Edinburgh - and I can only think of two reasons for the change. 1) they've had some health and safety session/been sued following an incident 2) it is more risky now dd is much bigger.

Do the London black cabs have those toddler seats in the back (your dd is prob too young atm but they will be v. useful in the not too distant future).

Apparently taxis are exempt from the new rules on car seats so they should be allowed but although it seems quite safe I just don't know what the official line on it is

ksmum - that's interesting about taxi's being exempt. I was wondering about that too. We get cabs all the time so it's quite an issue for us.

Another thing which I've been wondering re the new law is why all cars aren't simply fitted with those adjustable seatbelts which some of the newer cabs have. They look like regular seatbelts but have a thing on them which allows you to adjust them down to fit a child perfectly. I may be deluded but I always feel ds (5) is more secure when strapped into one of those belts than when he is rattling about in a car seat which you can never be 100% certain is fitted properly. Does anyone know whether, for older children (say 5+) car seats are actually safer than a perfectly fitted seat belt? If not, surely it would be safer to fit all cars with this type of belt? Sorry for the hijack!