What to Do:

• Keep kids rear-facing for as long as possible. Rear-facing kids--even 3 year olds!-- are five times safer than forward-facing kids
• Keep kids in a 5-point-harness for as long as possible
• Use a booster until the child passes the 5 step test
• Find easy to use car seats and boosters on our Choosing A Restraint in Taxis page

• Never let ANYONE ride unrestrained! A seat belt is ALWAYS better than nothing.  Restrained passengers are up to 2 times more likely to die if ONE person in the car is unrestrained. The unrestrained person becomes a human missle!  Watch the two videos below to see what happens to an unrestrained passenger--adult or child--in a crash.
• Never use a BabyBjorn, Ergo, Snugli, baby wrap or mei tai in a taxi.  Watch what happens in a crash test!
• Never buckle two passengers in one seat belt.  Things in a crash weigh their weight multiplied by the speed of a crash. An adult will therefore weigh several thousand pounds, crushing a child sitting on their lap or carried on their chest in a baby carrier.
• Never put the shoulder belt behind your child's back or under her arm. This removes all head & chest protection.
• Never forget to buckle your own seat belt.

Who should use a safety restraint--a seat belt or a car seat--in a taxi, and why?

Everyone should use a seat belt or a car seat.  Adults should buckle up not only for their own safety, but also for everyone else’s!

• Infant Seats
• Convertible Seats
• Forward-facing Seats
• Boosters and Travel Vests

• Bigger is better.  Choose one with a 30+ lb weight limit, since these will last much longer than smaller models and barely weigh more (plus what's an extra 1 or 2 lbs once you have a chubby 13 lb baby strapped in??) 

• Make sure the car seat will fit securely in your own vehicle, if possible in the center position

• Ensure compatibility between your car seat and your stroller,  Please see our stroller compatibility tip sheet to find out whether your preferred stroller and car seat will work together.  Since the car seat may one day save your child's life, consider selecting your car seat first and basing your stroller purchase on your car seat, not vice versa.

• Baby Trend Flex Loc (note that base will not install securely in many vehicles)
• Britax Chaperone
• Chicco KeyFit30
• Cybex Aton
• Evenflo Secure Ride 35
• Evenflo Serenade
• Graco Snugride 30, 32 or 35 (note that Snugride 30 base will not install securely in many vehicles)
• Peg Perego Primo Viaggio SIP 30-30 (note that base will not install securely in many vehicles)
• Teutonia T-tario 32 or 35
• Safety 1st OnBoard 35

Combi Coccoro  -5-33 lbs rear-facing, 20-40 lbs forward-facing.  -Weighs only 11 lbs!  -Installs VERY easily with seatbelt.  Watch our installation video -Can be used with Baby Trend Snap N Go SX stroller wheels   -Great for taxis and planes and good as a travel stroller/car seat combo. -Note that Coccoro Flash stroller wheels are now discontinued
Sit N Stroll -5-30 lbs rear-facing, forward to 40 lbs.  -Built-in stroller wheels.  **Note: Sit N' Stroll will not install securely in many cars.  Due to location of belt routing path (over baby’s legs rear-facing and across baby’s chest forward-facing), you must install the Sit N' Stroll with child in seat and uninstall the car seat before removing child from seat.**

Forward-Facing Seats
If your child is too tall or heavy for rear-facing, you can continue to use one of the convertible seats mentioned above in forward-facing mode (provided he fits) or purchase a portable forward-facing only child safety seat.

• Safety 1st Go Hybrid (formely the Safeguard Go)  5-point-harness up to 60 lbs, backless booster to 100 lbs.  Requires top tether when using 5-point-harness.  Lightweight (9lbs) and fits in travel bag.  
  

• BubbleBum (inflatable booster) (1 lb)
• Combi Kobuk backless booster (4.5 lbs)
• Cosco Ambassador & High Rise booster
• Evenflo Big Kid AMP booster 
• Graco TurboBooster backless booster 
• Harmony Cruz or Carpooler boosters

• Safe Traffic System Ride Safer Travel Vest (1.4 lbs).  This vest functions like a booster seat to keep the vehicle's seat belt properly positioned on the child's body & is so compact it will fit in a small purse

Will a BabyBjorn or other soft infant carrier protect a child in a taxi?

Similar Studies
Researchers Kathleen Weber and John Melvin of the Highway Safety Research Institute at the University of Michigan Medical School tested this same scenario using a 30 mph, front, dynamic crash test of the type required by the current U.S. federal safety standard for child car seats.  Unfortunately we have no video of this crash test.  In the test, an adult wore the baby in a soft, cloth front carrier like the Baby Bjorn and used a lap/shoulder belt. The researchers found that this infant was at a very high risk. The tested carrier shredded completely, ejecting the infant dummy into the dashboard. If the carrier had not shredded, they found that the infant would likely still not have survived. As the adult's head traveled forward in the whiplash motion, the adult's chin would have slammed down into the infant's head right where the soft spot is.

If you find yourself in a taxi with just your infant and a Baby Bjorn (hopefully you never will), there is NO way to protect your baby! However, you can still protect yourself by wearing your seatbelt. Putting the seatbelt over you and the baby will only make matters worse. It will not help the baby and will endanger you in the process.


Stroller Compatibility 

Below is a stroller/car seat compatibility chart.  Here's some info before you start:

We include only four infant seats: the Britax Chaperone, Chicco Key Fit 30, Cybex Aton, and Graco Snug Ride 35.  

Why only four – and why these particular four?

These four infant seats are more likely to be used properly than other seats.  Here's why:

• They all have built-in locking clips for an easier installation with the vehicle’s shoulder/lap belt.  Why is this important if most cars have LATCH?  Since few cars allow for the use of LATCH in the center seat AND since the center is 43% safer than the side, it is best to have the car seat installed in the center using the seat belt – and a built in locking clip for the seat belt typically allows for an easier and more secure seat belt installation.  Read more about placement of your infant car seat.
• Due to the contours of their bases these four car seats can be installed securely in a wide variety of vehicles (unfortunately we can’t say that about many other car seats).
• The harness straps tighten and loosen easily and the straps can’t get uneven.  When straps get uneven, as happens with many other car seats, it drives parents crazy and the kids typically ride around with straps that are too loose, which isn’t safe.

These four infant seats are compatible with the widest variety of strollers. 
Note that the Cybex Aton uses the Maxi Cosi adapter. Knowing that many strollers worldwide have Maxi Cosi car seat adapters, Cybex designed the Aton to fit onto the Maxi Cosi adapter.  Since the Cybex has only been available in the US since May 2011, most stroller companies have not officially listed it as compatible with their strollers. However, since it fits onto Maxi Cosi adapters, we have listed it as fitting on a particular stroller if there is a Maxi Cosi adapter for that stroller.


Trying to decide between these seats? Ask yourself these questions:

Will you be using the carrier alone, without the base, in taxis, friends cars, rental cars, grandma's car, travel, etc?
If your answer is YES, the Cybex Aton will work best since it installs more easily without its base than the other three car seats.  Watch how to do it on our Taxi Videos page.  Note: installing the carrier by itself is VERY safe as long as it is installed properly – the base is not a safety feature, but rather a convenience feature.

Does your baby weigh less than 5 pounds?
The Britax, Chicco & Cybex are certified for babies 4 pounds and up.  The Graco starts at 5 pounds.

Do you have a small car?  Does the adult in front need to move his/her seat all the way back?
The Cybex takes up the least amount of space front-back, the Chicco just an inch more than the Cybex, and the Graco a smidge more than the Chicco – and the Britax a little more than the Graco.

Using the Chart:
Scroll to the right to see the Notes column.  Click on the tabs at the very bottom of the chart to switch between the list of single strollers, double strollers, and double strollers designed for twins (i.e. can take 2 infant car seats at the same time)
 

Traveling Without a Car Seat

What if you don't have a car seat with you? Can't you just buckle up your child in a safety belt or hold the child on your lap?

The primary job of a safety belt is to keep you from being ejected from the vehicle. The younger and smaller the child, the less effective the safety belt will be in both preventing injury and ejection from the vehicle, because the safety belt was designed for a 50th percentile adult male. A child under 1 year old and less than 20 pounds will likely receive no benefit if placed in a safety belt due to her small body size, large head, and inability to sit unsupported. A child of this age and size must always ride in an age/weight appropriate rear-facing car seat.

So too, a child over 1 and 20 pounds should also always ride in an age/weight appropriate car seat. We realize that many NYC toddlers ride in taxis without a car seat, often held on the lap of an adult,  so we feel it is important to note that holding a child is the worst option of all.   No one is strong enough to hold onto a child in the instant of a crash---where the child becomes much heavier than normal.  In this situation a child will fly forward either into the divider screen or out the windshield.  Therefore, should a toddler ever be in a vehicle without a car seat, he may receive some benefit from wearing a safety belt due to his larger body size and ability to sit unsupported.

If you must place your toddler in a seat belt, place him in a shoulder-and-lap belt (not just a lap belt – unless the shoulder belt is resting across the child's face). Pull the safety belt so it's very snug and so the lap portion of the belt is resting very low and very snug on the tops of the child's thighs. Never let the child place the shoulder belt behind her back or under her arm, since this increases the chance of serious head, abdominal, and spinal cord injuries.

Should I buckle up both myself and my child in the same seat belt, where my child sits on my lap and I buckle both of us in?

No!  Never use one seat belt for two people – i.e. don’t let your child sit on your lap and put the seat belt over both of you. Rule of thumb: One person, one seat belt.

Why? In a crash, everything will weigh its weight multiplied by the speed of a crash – if you are 100 pounds and are in a 30mph crash, you will weigh approximately 3000 pounds. If there's something between your body and the seat belt (like a child sitting on your lap), your body will crush the child.

Where should everyone sit?

While the center of the back seat is statistically the safest place in the vehicle (because you can never take a direct impact there), it might not always be the best place to ride, depending on which type of seat belt it has. If the center has only a lap belt (no shoulder belt), it would not be the safest place for an adult or a child using a booster seat. These people are better served with a shoulder-and-lap belt that can offer upper body restraint not found in a lap-only belt.

A child in a rear or forward-facing car seat can ride very safely with a lap-only belt because they have the car seat's harness to offer upper body restraint.

Now that the newer taxis have shoulder-and-lap belts in all 3 rear seating positions, where someone sits is no longer much of an issue.

Taxi Videos

Learn how to install an infant carrier car seat in a taxi

• American Method

-Britax Companion, Chaperone and B-Safe
-Chicco Keyfit and Keyfit 30
-Graco Snugride 22, 30, 32 and 35 (USA models)
-Orbit Baby Infant Seat
-Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 30/30 SIP

Note: Video takes a while to load, please be patient!  
 

• European Method

-Cybex Aton
-Graco Snugride 22, 32 and 35 (European models)
-Maxi Cosi Mico

Note: Video is second one on left column and features a Mico.

 

Taxi Tips

Find out how to install your infant carrier without the base in our Taxi Videos section.  It takes approximately 1 minute to correctly install most infant carriers without the base (once you've practiced a few times).

Before you take the taxi:

• Buckle your baby tightly into her car seat before you go outside!  This way, you'll avoid having to do up the straps on the curb or inside the taxi.


• In winter, dress your baby in thin tight layers and place a blanket or one of these car seat covers on top of her. Don't put the baby in a snowsuit. You'll avoid the baby overheating in the warm taxi and hopefully also avoid some crying--since you can just remove the blanket or open the cover once you're inside the cab.


• Take your lightest and most easily collapsable stroller with you if you plan to take a taxi. Let the driver put it in the trunk while you install the baby's car seat.

As you hail the taxi:

• If you can, choose a taxi that has more room in the back.  Minivans and sedans are good for car seats, the Ford Escape SUV is harder for installations.


• Install the car seat on the side closest to the curb if you are at all worried about achieving a tight installation.  Installing the seat in the center can be more difficult and it is more important that the car seat is installed correctly on the side than incorrectly in the center. An incorrectly installed car seat is not safe even in the center of the vehicle.


• Do not close the taxi door until you have finished installing the car seat.  Closing the door is a signal to the driver that you are ready to go.


• Ask the driver to start the meter immediately and maybe even hand him a few dollars right away (just factor this into the tip at the end).  This might show him that you respect his time and pacify him as you take the minute to install the baby's car seat.