Is a nearly 13 year old boy old enough to get in a mini cab by himself for short, local journey?

[tigermoth]

My son is 13 in April. He is pretty sensible and streetwise - has been getting the bus by himself to school and at weekends since he was 11 years old.

Increasingly he needs dh or me to be a taxi service to get him to and from activities at weekends and early evenings.

This week alone we have driven him to and from play rehearsals every night as he is in a play this weekend. A local 20 minute journey each way.

Sometimes we just cannot be around to give him lifts. By not going to the said activity(drama, cricket, etc) he is letting other people down. Catching the bus to these activites means two bus journeys lasting 1 hour, with a stop in the middle of a rough part of town.

Is using a local taxi service a viable alternative? If so, what provisos and safety measures would you put in place?

I should add, when ds gets the bus at weekends, it is usually during daytime and with friends.

Yes, it would be fine.
Contact a reputable firm and book in advance.
You could also ask for the same driver each time if possible, so your son is familiar with him or her.
If he's got a mobile phone, he could take it with him, and text you to let you know he's arrived safely.

I think it's fine - what would you be worried about? I can't actually think of anything that could go wrong - unless you think the taxi driver might assault him?

I'd do it. My son is 13 in May. Agree with you that it is getting increasingly exhausting ferrying him around.

Is there a particular taxi company that you could always use? If you could book the taxi beforehand and then be there to pay I can't see the problem. Probably better than some of the lifts he gets from his mate's dad, or even worse, big brother.

Basically, if you can trust him to baby sit (I do) then he can deal with a taxi.

Sounds fine to me.

It's the thought of him being alone in a locked car with a stranger - on a bus he is with other people. I agree that assault is a remote possibility, but still not sure how I should feel about this.

Consult the taxi firm and agree that the same named driver will take him each time?

Ask for a female driver?

I am not saying yet whether I gave in and let him get a cab this week, btw - I want to view the consensus here first

bloody hell - wouldn't let my 5 year old in a public toilet but haven't thought of a taxi - he gets one once a week when it's his father's turn to do the school run)

(The taxi driver says he dreads it becasue he doesn't stop talking)

My son is the same age as yours. Not sure I would do it and mine uses the buses to get to and from school too.

Oh you have already done it? I thought you were asking whether it was safe, to help you decide

Some of the pupils at the ds school are picked up by taxi, so it might be worth trying the school office to see if there are particular firms that are used?

Thanks,

I will contact our Council's education unit to see if they recommend certain taxi services.

F&Z - yes & no! I want to decide if using taxis now and then for ds should be the routine option if we can't drive him somewhere.

We have used a taxi for ds once this week, (and this was the first ever time he has been alone in a cab) and this was an emergency one off.

But his need for a driver is getting ridiculous - yesterday I was faced with the possibility of picking him up from an after show party in Orpington at around 2.00 am in the morning! (I live in on Greenwich/Bexely borders) so it would have been a big drive there and back. Luckily he stayed the night at the friend's house in the end.

you have to be crb checked to have a taxi licence

schooltaxis have chaperones afaik

yep school taxis are always accompanied by crb checked chaperones.

and it wouldn't worry me..just pick a taxi firm with established taxi drivers

it wouldn't worry me here, but not sure about London mini-cabs, I'd spend more time checking out the firm!

Does anyone know if you have to be CRB checked to have a mini cab licence? Is this the same as having a taxi licence? I always supposed that people could pick up work as casual mini cab drivers with minimum checks to their criminal background.

I don't know whether every area is different and has its own rules, but when xdh looked at being a taxi driver, they wanted a full crb check.

you have to have a medical a crb and a knowledge test to get a taxi licence

my son is 12, and goes on a school bus. I have to be honest and say that I wouldn't want him in a taxi. I'd be worried about the assalt thing, but having said that,
if me and dh go out, we use the same taxi every time, a one man band, so if i were to do it, it would be him. Have you got any 'one man band' taxi people by you, so you would get the same driver every time
and build up a trust relationship? I agree though the amount of ferrying about gets ridiculous!

Tigermoth, Datacars' drivers are all licensed I think, we've had several displaying what looks like TfL ID...?
They are the only cab firm I'd trust with the aged Ps if this helps
My dad once sat in a car til midnight in the snow in Keston after one of those parties btw. Thereafter the parents organised a rota Twas a fab party and I hope ds1's one was too