Taxis With Child Car Seats?

[mrporoto]

bikes have child seats on some of them,its called a basket on the handle bars!

 

[Rich One]

some bloke gets out of the taxi if his belt don't work,hahaha....must have a lot of time on his hands.Perhaps he should do a risk assessment,required by health and safety,before he leaves home for a trip to the shops?

The Canadian Gas Company from Alberta that I worked for in B.A. required that remis companies we hired for employees. had to have working seat belts on all 4 seats. Some may think its unnecessary but check the number of Taxicabs with passengers involved in serious accidents. If you want to collect damages from the Cab Driver /Owner you may have to wait a while...!! Meanwhile you must pay for Hospital Expenses , rehab, etc. Then collect from you insurance Group

 

[mrporoto]

Well it's in yer genes to claim compo for every "accident" that happens,how do you manage to walk the streets with all the holes and rubbish strewn about?I don't have any insurance,live life on the edge,haha,suppose the largest legal profession in the universe needs punters to keep their pockets well lined.Wonder how many locals are worried about getting in a taxi without protective equipment,do they check their insurance policy before they leave home?There are seat belts on the plane but not many survive a crash,just a bit of perspective old boy!!

 

[Rich One]

Well it's in yer genes to claim compo for every "accident" that happens,how do you manage to walk the streets with all the holes and rubbish strewn about?I don't have any insurance,live life on the edge,haha,suppose the largest legal profession in the universe needs punters to keep their pockets well lined.Wonder how many locals are worried about getting in a taxi without protective equipment,do they check their insurance policy before they leave home?There are seat belts on the plane but not many survive a crash,just a bit of perspective old boy!!

If locals don't worry about safety, is that a criteria. What locals do about traffic safety practices in Indonesia or Thailand constitutes a model? Many a Bean counter around the world believes that seat belts in aircraft's are a nuisance...

 

[Ashley]

Definitely bring your own. You should probably call a taxi service (like Premium taxis) and let them know in advance that you'll be requiring a functioning seatbelt for a child's car-seat. I cannot imagine many cabs you hail from the street either having a seat-belt or being willing to wait around while you put the car-seat in place. If you're going to be doing this several times a day, you might want to look into hiring a car or a more permanent car-service (remise) to take you around.

 

[mrporoto]

If you are that worried about the safety issues here perhaps it's best you don't come.Stay where you will be a 100% safe
wherever that is.Recklessness is foolhardy but over protection is an illness.

 

[Parvati]

PLEASE Do bring your own carseats and RENT a car. Yes, it is expensive, but if you need to move around the city in a car, not a bus it is better for you.
Getting on the subway with a stroller is not easy at all either, so the bus is your best bet, and at least you can take the stroller on the bus. For the subte you'll have the baby in the bjorn, the toddler and the 3 yo on each hand, and that is doable, but hard.
If a cab sees you with three kids and a stroller he/she will not stop for you. Trust me. I have been there and with just two kids (5 and 1). You can swear, you can take the plate number and report the car, they don't care. And if you use a car service or call a radio taxi, you need to wait for a large unit to fit all of you, so then you wait and pay a ton too. Do yourself a favor and rent a car. It will be far more convieniet and less stress for all of you and you can take a ton of weekend trips near BA. We ended up renting a car with Triffty, but there are other options too.
Oh, and not even in the US taxis are required to have a car seat for infants/toddlers. Only some car services do and uppon request and for an additonal fee. Here, carseats are voluntary and your taxi ride will depend on the compassion the cabbie has for you and the kids. Or how empty his wallet is.
Good luck.

 

[ElQueso]

Parvati, personally I agree with you about renting a car instead of depending on buses, subway or taxis for hauling kids around. Just so the OP knows, however, be prepared for some serious aggravation, and depending on confidence and driving skills, perhaps moments of brief terror

To me, the cabs are the worst for things like this. Hell, they won't even stop most of the time for someone with three bags of groceries, much less kids, car seats, etc. And hell, I've met very, very few compassionate cabbies here. They do exist, but few and far between.

Buses are difficult to get into, seems to me, with kids - you often have a line of people trying to pay the meter when you're getting on and it wouldn't be too easy trying to handle stroller, kids, etc, at the same time. Certainly can be done, but yuck.

I drive here, I have my own car. I've been driving here for about 5 years. I'm very comfortable doing so, but I've also driven all over the world, both on left and right side of the road, in conditions that freak a lot of people out. I'm a bit of an aggressive driver, which (as strange as it may seem) makes you less likely to have problems (as long as you are also a good driver and not just a calamity waiting to happen). People here who drive are completely oblivious to what is going on around them, make turns to the right from the left lane, and vice versa, without even looking, get caught in the middle of an intersection when the light turns red because they were trying to squeeze themselves into the next block before the light turns, etc. And wait until you are driving down Santa Fe around Plaza Italia and there are literally around 15 buses, all over, squeezing you between them. Buses are like big elephants that just don't care at all about any other vehicle on the road

 

[moomin]

Well it's in yer genes to claim compo for every "accident" that happens,how do you manage to walk the streets with all the holes and rubbish strewn about?I don't have any insurance,live life on the edge,haha,suppose the largest legal profession in the universe needs punters to keep their pockets well lined.Wonder how many locals are worried about getting in a taxi without protective equipment,do they check their insurance policy before they leave home?There are seat belts on the plane but not many survive a crash,just a bit of perspective old boy!!

Good for mrporoto living life on the edge. Some people don't want their kids to, though. Reddoor, have sent you a PM.

 

[la_guachita]

I'm a kamikazi too, but kids change the equation. But this got me wondering how much child car seats improve safety. Maybe it's just another money making industry -- lobbyists utilize fear to get laws passed to sell those very expensive, requisite car seats up north.

http://www.thepassinglane.ca/2010/01/child-car-seats-might-not-be-as-good-as-we-think.html

Would be interesting for an actuary to chime in on this. For a short visit you're looking at a very small —but valid— risk, versus a gigantic hassle with a little more peace of mind.