taxi rides

C

carmenlotusfeet

Registered User
Bubs is approaching six months, am planning to use just stroller and not car-seat/stroller combo. What happens when baby goes in taxi ? Do I need to use Bjorn as well ? Can't really strap a seat-belt around bubs right as she can barely sit up right by herself ? What is the law and what to do ?
 
Hi Coco,

Baby Bjorns are not advisable to be used when riding in vehicles. Because if there is a hard impact, the weight of the adult's body will push the child forward and crush him/her on the dashboard or back seat. Likewise when you use a normal car seat belt on yourself with your baby on your lap at the same time.

For your child's age (6 months) it is best to use the "sit and stroll" which is a car seat and stroller combo. Once your child becomes a little older around a year old) he/she can progress to use the Joeysafe which is a portable 5 point child seat belt.

Hope this helps!

Tisha
 
I just hold my child tight on my laps or breastfeed her so that she won't wriggle too much in the taxi. Sometimes I will put the seat belt on myself and sometimes not (whenever I am breastfeeding)

If I think the taxi driver is driving too fast, I will ask him politely to slow down.

I tried to use seat belt on my child but it is not practical. We need to be quick enough to get into the taxi (after struggling putting the pushchair, baby bag, shopping bags, shoes, umbrella, food,...etc) and the taxi driver won't wait for us to sit properly. Besides, our taxi journey usually just take about 15 minutes.
 
We alway used the baby carrier (like a bjorn) with the seat belt around me and under the baby. (never over the baby). I would never sit in the front, of a car or taxi and would make sure the taxi didn't move until we were strapped in properly. However as she is bigger now we sometimes use the flight vest from B2B's with my arms wrapped around her. Sometimes we would have no choice but to go by taxi, but most of the time we would use bus or mtr. I know it is not ideal but I think it is far safer than not having them restrained at all.
 
I am amazed at how few people in HK restrain their children while in the taxi! We always put our baby in the car seat which is easily strapped in with the seatbelt. I think for a 6 month old they should still fit in the car seat unless they are over 20lbs. I just think that if in countries like Canada and the U.S. where there are very strict laws (in fact, in Canada, kids have to be in a car seat until they are 8 years old!) everybody does it, why would it change for us here who travel by taxi? in fact, it is probably even more dangerous as these cab drivers are virtual strangers and we have no idea how safely they drive!
 
Agree with niutalent. It is inconvemient and hopefully you will never be in a crash, but if you are, your child needs to be properly restrained. A Baby Bjorn or other type of sling is NOT SAFE, regardless of how the seatbelt is used. In fact it is probably more dangerous than just letting the child sit on your lap. On another forum a car safety expert was quoted :

'in the event of a collision at a speed of around 30mph, the adult would be thrown forward with a force of around 3 tonnes. If the baby/child were in the same seatbelt as the adult, this would be the equivalent of a fully grown elephant sitting on the baby. I would hate to imagine where the baby would end up if completely unrestrained but possibly marginally more likely survive than being crushed..?'

The only really safe way is to use car seat. The sit n stroll mentioned earlier is probably the most convenient solution. For larger children a Joeysafe (NOT a baby b'air flight vest - the website specifically says that it is NOT safe for car travel) is better than nothing.
 
i'm a canadian and it's true that in Canada, there are very strict carseat laws. I am frustrated a/b how I can travel via taxi with my baby that is safe. The seatbelt is not long enough for the Maxi-Cosi carseat- what shoudl I do? What is the sit and stroll adn the joeysafe? where can i buy them and how much are they?
 
I use the Joeysafe harness but it is not suitable for young babies (recommended from 1 year). I bought it online at www.joeysafe.lenoirphoto.com. I too come from a country with really strict car seat laws and the Joeysafe gives me real peace of mind.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

About this archive

This is an archive of over 20 years of GeoBaby and GeoSchools knowledge and discussions, kept online as a read-only reference.

Back
Top