Safety without seatbelts

[GoingtobebiginAsia]

I'm not quite sure where to post this one.
When Baby Boo is about six weeks old, we'll be returning to Vietnam. Although the locals are quite happy to carry babies around helmet-less on motorbikes, we will not be doing that. Our only option to transport the baby will be taxis, which often don't have seatbelts in the back.
So, what do you reckon would be safer - putting the baby in a carrier (like hugabub), sitting in the front and putting a seatbelt on (not over the baby of course) or sitting in the back seat with the baby in an unsecured capsule?
Before anyone really freaks out... the speed limit in the city is 40 km/hr but its rare to hit 40 because the congestion is so bad the car just usually crawls along. Any "accident" is likely to involve sudden braking to avoid hitting a motorbike or light crunch from hitting another slow-moving car.

[Bathsheba]

I've had to use taxis here in Australia without the safety of a capsule/child seat. What I did was wear my baby in a sling and sit behind the driver (apparently slightly safer than diagonally opposite the driver in the back seat IYKWIM). I wouldn't sit in the front. A head colliding with an upholstered headrest is probably less deadly than hitting the dashboard. I would baby-wear in preference to using an unsecured capsule... things really fly around in a collision... that's the main thing you need to stop... next you have to worry about close impact (like a head hitting the interior) and then crushing injuries.

Goodluck! but like you said, the speed factor will be reduced. The worse accidents in Australia are due to high speeds over 100 and side impact (which is also worse when the other car is travelling fast).

[HotI]

I would go the baby carrier and even if you don't have a seatbelt, the bub will at least be attached securely to you, and you will have hands free to brace or protect bub.

Having travelled alot in Asia, with 4 trips to Cambodia, i have experienced the traffic conditions you are talking about. Hoping to take a trip to Vietnam in next couple of months (our last fling before bub).

[Lulu]

A capsule on the floor behind the drivers seat is another option I *think

[Liz]

I wouldn't wear them, the force of your 60+kg landing on top of the baby in an accident is enough to cause a lot of damage, let alone the force of the impact.

I'd be inclined to use a capsule of some sort. At least if bub is strapped into that it's the capsule bouncing around in an accident and taking the brunt of it. I'd probably put it behind the drivers seat.. maybe on the floor like Lulu said, to prevent going through the windscreen.

We are probably going to Singapore early next year and i've been told they don't use car seats there for their kids.. My kids are bigger tho, so not sure what to do there... maybe we can get hold of some basic boosters.. just to raise them up so the adult seatbelt won't be so deadly??

[Marlene]

A capsule on the floor behind the drivers seat is another option I *think

That's a good idea!

[LuluHB]

It may not always be convenient but is it possible to find a "regular" taxi driver who does have seatbelts in the back of his taxi? Like I said, it won't always be convenient but you might be able to book ahead a particular driver so you know you could strap the baby's capsule in. Otherwise, wedging the capsule on the floor behind the driver would be the next best thing.

I know the speeds are reduced but unfortunately it doesn't take much speed for nasty injury to occur. Its also a fact that you simply can't hold onto an unrestrained child in an accident, and neither would you be able to do anything to prevent your own body from potentially injurying the child if using a baby carrier. Scary footage that I saw recently (I'll try to find it, although its nightmarish stuff) basically proved that you would be incapable of holding an unrestrained child before you even left the car park.

[Bathsheba]

Hmmm... things don't kinda just bounce around in a car accident... they propell... fast. I have heard of children going through glass windows but have yet heard of a crush injury because of child wearing. I could be wrong though.

[Liz]

this is why I wouldn't wear.... YouTube - Crash test:Child in mothers hands/??????? ?? ????? ? ??????

and yeah.. I worded it badly lol.. not bounce around.. even if the baby is propelled, i'd rather it be propelled in a capsule.

Just looking around youtube now, searching for 'unrestrained child'. There's ones showing that you simply can't hold onto the child.

ETA: Yikes.. this is at 50km/hr YouTube - No Seatbelt - Like Pinball
I think an unrestrained capsule would injure everyone else in the car! Even at 40km/hr!

I don't really know what to suggest anymore.. perhaps really search for a taxi with seatbelts in the back to restrain the capsule.

ETA again: I'm agreeing with LuluHB.. check out the impact at 40km/hr http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn8m-9JLPes and if it's a headon.. you'd be looking at a force of 80km/hr if both are doing 40. yikes...

sorry.. going youtube crazy LOL.

[Visitor6]

A tensioning seatbelt with a hugaboo would could serious injury to bub.

Baby wearing means loss of control of yourself as your centre of gravity changes.

However if the belt was between you and the hugaboo that might help, but it will make it hard to get out of it in an emergency.

Perhaps a capsule on the floor behind a seat (if it had sufficient sideways support that prevented lateral movement as well as good belts/harnesses.

Inertia and rapid deceleration in crashes plays in very nasty ways, good luck hope you find a safe choice.

[Schmickers]

Hmmm... things don't kinda just bounce around in a car accident... they propell... fast. I have heard of children going through glass windows but have yet heard of a crush injury because of child wearing. I could be wrong though.

Actually, I have, where a child was being held by a parent and the belt was around both of them. The belt tensions back and the force of the accident pushes the adult forward, and the child is caught between the two.

[GoingtobebiginAsia]

Thanks for your advice.
Liz, I'm too scared to look at the youtube clips.
As I said, taxis rarely reach 40. They just crawl along. It's very frustrating being a passenger. I think the capsule on the floor may be the safest. I don't know why I didn't think of that, I was only thinking of the capsule sliding off the seat and bouncing around everywhere.
As for booking a particular taxi.... it's a nice idea but things are really different here. The usual practice is to walk to the street, call a taxi by phone while trying to flag one down. You jump in the first one that stops. Likewise, a driver that accepts a booking will stop for the first person he sees.
Kate07, I hope you enjoy your holiday in VN. The traffic in Cambodia is a little different. I think they drive slightly faster but the traffic overall is much saner. PM me if you want any travel tips!

[Liz]

Two of them are just crash test dummies And one is like a commercial showing what happens when an adult doesn't wear a seatbelt at 40km/hr. Nothing graphic or anything

[Beth-n-Sara]

When We were bubs my mum had an old car with no seatbelts, She used to jam the capsule on the floor behind the frount seat. It was really common 20-30 years ago.

[Bathsheba]

I was looking at the space behind our car seats yesterday... I don't think a modern capsule would fit down there... maybe if you pushed the front passenger seat waaaay forward...?