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Ok there is probably an obvious answer here that i'm totally missing, but I've been wondering when bubs is here and we go away, often we need to catch a taxi. What do people do with babies/toddlers who should be restrained? And where do we sit legally with this. I'm very PRO seatbelts and car restraints so i've been wondering if there is an easy or obvious solution to my though?
You tell the taxi company you have a baby and ask if they will provide a seat. If not, go to another company: many do provide seats.
TBH, I had a portable baby seat that just was belted into the back of a car so that wasn't a worry: if you have a travel system pram then you clip the carseat onto the pushchair so it's really easy that way.
If I have, absolutely have, to get a cab with DS I sit in the back with him, strap him in to a big seatbelt and hold him there too with my arms around him. But that's for a very short journey that is NEEDED, otherwise I walk.
you can request a car seat when you call for a taxi - they generally have them located at their base - but you'd have to book well in advance
you can supply your own seat - depending on where you're going and whether you'll be able to leave it somewhere when you get there
all taxis (at least the ones locally - my dad drives!) are fitted with car seat fixtures - they just don't have the car seats in the cars all the time due to the space they take up in the boot, and the risk of them being stolen...
LEGALLY speaking, you are allowed to have a child/toddler/infant not in a car seat or restraint, they must be held on your lap, or when physically big enough, they are to be in a normal seatbelt.
If you are going house to house, i used to take the car seat...this obviously wont work when you go to shopping centre lol
Aside from that, hang on and make sure you have a responsible cab driver.
Most ask you to book at least 24 hours in advance, and they supply a car seat.
In my experience, many cab companies do not supply car seats at all these days - they are not required to by law and a child or infant does not require a booster or carseat/capsule because taxis are considered public transport. On the few occasions where we have had no choice but to use a taxi, I have used a baby carrier.
When I took S to Fiji last month they are very lax on seatbelts. For adults and kids. So I just used my sling over the top of the seatbelt around me. Mind you she was 19 months old so was hard to keep in a sling all the time but on bigish trips we made sure of it. That way bubs is snug against me and safe in the sling and I'm restrained in the seatbelt. Please don't put bubs inside the same seatbelt as you because in case of an accident the seatbelt will tense up on you and can cause some serious damage to bubs. (Hated to mention it but is really important)
Like the other girls have mentioned, the taxis should have them but on the off chance that you can't get one then the sling would work great.
Thanks for the replies ladies, generally speaking we get a hire car and in which case we'd take our seat or hire one through car company. I was wondering about using a sling/carrier particually when younger. I guess there are always unforseen circumstance and not always able to book 24hrs in advance so was for thinking our hurdles :)
Once again, thanks for the replies
I have always found it hard... infact I have NEVER been able to get a taxi with a child restraint :( They usually tell me that legally they don't have to... so they won't.... or I should have booked it earlier. So I have either worn my baby in a sling and strapped us both in (not ideal i know)... or with my older child popped him in the middle and held onto to him... very nervously.
I think it varies from state to state. In Vic it's legal to travel in a taxi with a child without a car seat (hence the difficulty in asking for them) - in other states it isn't, hence they have to supply them on demand.
I think the last time I looked into it, they have to supply a child seat on request in NSW but not sure what the situation is in WA.
FWIW - the laws in Vic look to be changing to mean that children can't go in the taxi without an appropriate child restraint - not sure of the timing, just know that dad mentioned it at some point recently
Why doesn't anyone start a business here? I don't care what the law is in VIC, I would prefer to have my child in a restraint.... There is surely a market for "family" taxi company, especially for travel to airports etc.?
I know plenty of mothers who for whatever reason do not have a car at their disposal..
I know it seems silly that we have all the lasw etc about having a child in a proper seat with belt etc & then when you ring a taxi they give you the "it's legal, blah, blah" speech. I found when ever I have called & asked for a seat I've been told it will be a few hrs wait, you dont need it & I've never been successful in getting one...even though they do have them!!! grrrr.
That said, I guess it does make some sense in that "it is considered public transport"....that it would be legal to have them not in a proper seat. After all, a mum esp without a car at their disposal would prob often take a bus or train....they have no child seats or seatbelts for that matter & they can crash too. Some bus drivers are crazy LOL. At least in a taxi you can use a carrier & put your belt around both of you. I prob rather be in the taxi than the bus.
It's a joke that taxi drivers consider themselves to be providers of public transport ie an essential service. I don't drive and sometimes, not often, I need to use a taxi. Mainly from the main shopping precinct to my home (about 2.5km) but taxi drivers really get miffed by the short journey... so I try to avoid asking them... once I needed to because I needed to take my DS to the doctors and waiting for a train was out of the question on that occassion... but I was still made to feel like a nuisance. They consider themselves to a commercial operation... profits profits profits... that is why providing a child restraint is annoying for them... and why they avoid it if at all possible :(
when we were in Sydney recently, I thought it would be alright for the couple of short trips to have DD on my lap as she wasn't even 2 and way too small for the adult seat belt. However both cab drivers insisted that by law, DD had to use the adult lap/sash seatbelt. It made me sooooo uncomfortable because the sash part went right across her neck. I held it down onto her chest by hand, but I shudder to think what would have happened in even a minor bingle. I feel she would have been much safer on my lap or in the Ergo (seatbelt under the Ergo, not going over her).
Sasa
Yep, at least when I had my baby in a sling (in a taxi) I knew that in an accident at least he wasn't going to get flung through the windscreen.