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).

[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.

[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).