Sitting a child on your lap in a taxi

[Heaven]

I have no idea where to put this thread sorry!

Today I called up for a taxi to see if we could get one with 2 car seats. I was told there was a really long wait for any with even 1 car seat. Then they told me that I can sit the kids on our laps, with the seat belt around both of us I told them, no, the kids are 3.5 and 1.5yrs and they told me that was ok. I was told in QLD it is ok to sit kids on your lap IN THE SAME SEAT BELT if there is no baby seat. WTF! Is this right? Are you kidding me???? I said no thanks of course.

Surely that can't be right, can it? Unbelievable.

[~*Niadalla*~]

In Vic I'm pretty sure they don't even have car seats anymore and you either hold your children or they have their own seat. It's a bit freaky. Glad I don't have to use taxis.

[Jaycee]

I think that's the law Australia wide! So glad I've never needed a taxi with children!

[Butterfly Dawn]

If there is a demand then why aren't the cab company's buying more carseats?

[Heaven]

It's crazyness!! I never catch taxi's but had someone visiting and DH forgot to leave the car seats so thought we might just taxi to the shops, nope!

How is it that the law can change just coz you're in a taxi??

[Phteven]

Bollocks!!

From the RTA website

http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/roadsafety...laws_faqs.html

Do we need a child restraint in taxis and buses?
Taxis

Taxi drivers must ensure:

All passengers younger than 12 months must be secured in a child restraint.
All passengers aged over 12 months and under 16 years must:
occupy a seating position that is fitted with a suitable seatbelt, and
not occupy the same seating position as another passenger (whether or not the other passenger is exempt from wearing a seatbelt under rule 267), and
wear the seatbelt properly adjusted and fastened.
No passenger under four years old is in the front seat and a child four years or older but under seven years may only sit in the front row if all of the other seats in the row or rows behind the front row are occupied by passengers who are also under seven years old.

Tell them they can provide you with a proper seat or they can deal with the Dept of Fair Trading.

[Doing my best]

They don't need to supply the restraint (and personally I wouldn't use a restraint I don't know the history of), but have the anchor points for parents/carers to fit the seat before traveling. When using a taxi, for us, it has been on holidays when we didn't have the hire car for short periods, but have had our carseats, so haven't actually faced having to ask for one.

[surprised]

Bollocks!!


Tell them they can provide you with a proper seat or they can deal with the Dept of Fair Trading.

But don't the laws differ from state to state? I was told the same thing about putting them on your lap in Qld, so I have booked a hire car!

[Phteven]

For some reason I thought the OP was going to Sydney

I've traveled with child seats before. I put them on the plane seat with the plane seat belt to hold it down and then used them in taxis, hire cars etc. I've also seen people putting them through with their luggage.

I've had some very dodgy seats with hire cars over the years. Some that looked like antiques and some that have been totally age inappropriate (a booster seat for a 6 month old ) and one that smelt very strange.

[emmjayt]

Eeek. I'm going to need a taxi on the Gold Coast in January to get to the airport. That's really scary

[TeniBear]

This is what I found for Queensland:

http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Safety/Dri...questions.aspx

It looks like the rules are a bit hazy. It doesn't say its the law to have a seat in a taxi, more that you *should*.