The Car Seat Lady

Using Taxis

Article Index
Using Taxis
Choosing a Restraint
BabyBjorns and Ergos
Stroller Compatibility
If You Don't Have a Car Seat With You
Where Should Everyone Sit?
Taxi Videos
Tips For Using Taxis

Page 1 of 8

Taxi Basics

In NYC in 2000 (the most recent year for which data are available) 2,600 children were injured in 17,000 taxi-related accidents. Studies show that NYC taxi passengers are 2.5 times more likely to be seriously injured or killed than the passengers in the other vehicle involved in the crash.

Accidents happen - but you can prevent injuries. Have NO REGRETS; protect your children. Make sure that quick taxi ride to school or a playdate doesn't send your child to the hospital.

What to Do:

USE A CAR SEAT OR BOOSTER SEAT

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

What Not to Do:

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.

Think its okay to skip wearing a seat belt if you're in the back seat?

Watch what happens in a crash when an adult passenger is unbelted. This video comes from the THINK! road safety campaign and was a British public service announcement.

Warning--this video is graphic.

What happens if your child is unbelted?

This video was produced by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute and features two 33 lb child-sized dummies representing 3 year old kids. One is correctly buckled into a correctly installed forward-facing child safety seat, while the other is unrestrained. The crash occurs at 30 mph. The unrestrained child would most likely not survive this crash.

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!

Here's why: In a crash an unrestrained object becomes a flying missile, weighing its weight multiplied by the speed of a crash. An unbelted adult can weigh more than the vehicle itself during a crash! An infant held in a father’s arms or worn in a BabyBjorn will weigh more than 300 pounds in a 30mph crash. No one can catch a 300 pound brick. So too, no one can hold onto an infant in the instant of a crash. The videos to the right show what will happen in a crash when a backseat passenger is unbelted.

What if you're not going very far? Do you still need to wear a seat belt?

Despite the fact that taxis are usually “not going very far,” they're involved in 27% of all crashes in Manhattan. Moreover, taxis are involved in 17% of all fatal crashes in Manhattan.

A comprehensive report on taxi crashes found that passengers in taxis are three times more likely to be relatively seriously injured than passengers in other vehicles involved in the same crash. Taxi passengers not wearing a restraint--seat belt, car seat or booster--are twice as likely to sustain relatively severe injuries as those wearing a restraint.

Don't risk your life or your child's life! Crashes happen all the time, even when you're not going very far or just going to the airport. If you wouldn't do it in your own car, DON'T do it in someone else's car!!

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