Question about child seat in taxi?

[crone]

The schools don't want to pay for it. They made the seats higher to keep the kids sort of confined, took out the metal so as not to knock their teeth out. It comes up every year. The school bus makers swear they are safer. Our niece was on that charter bus that ran off of highway 90 about 5 years ago. Some girls were killed. Nobody on that bus will ever get over it. Check out the accident rate. You will be stunned. Not much injury per accident, it is usually somebody running into one, so they must be semi- safe.

[fnh]

@cheryjohns and @crone, bus manufacturers have indeed started installing seat belts and there are calls to make them mandatory. My children's school demands their buses be equipped with seat belts per contract, for example. However, there are data indicating that seat belts on buses are actually LESS safe, and at least one safety organization (I'm unsure which) is petitioning against these new regulations. Why? Because rapid evacuations of buses are much more common than collisions. The high padded seat backs are intended to reduce the likelihood of ejection.

@sampaguita, really, the OP has been riding around with his children not in car seats for possibly their entire lives and I'm certain he loves his children every bit as much as you or me. He is principally concerned, in his own words and legitimately so entering a new country, about being 'sorry and arrested' on this single ride from the airport. (For tmc300, even if it were illegal to ride in a hired vehicle without car seats, which it isn't, you would NOT be arrested, merely ticketed and fined, and only $25 for the initial offense at that. But you won't, because it is LEGAL.) No reasonable person would possibly expect the OP to produce a car seat upon arrival from a foreign country where they are not used. Is there a car seat kiosk at the airport? The risk of an accident on this one trip is vanishingly small, and I would wager that this single trip might even be safer than any of the trips taken previously, depending on the country of origin.

We wish you luck on your new adventure here!

[Sampaguita]

fnh - to quote you: "sigh". You are totally missing the point of my posts. And where are you getting that I've questioned whether the OP loves his family as much as you or I do?

I've already discussed the matter with the OP via DM and as I understand it, a mutual acquaintance is going to assist the family upon their arrival at IAH so that they will not have to concern themselves with the taxi/shuttle and car seats issue. I'm glad he brought it up even if it was in the context of asking about the legalities. Judging from the DM's I've received today, many of the folks on c-d agree that it's better to be safe than sorry.

You and your husband can cite statutes all night but it still doesn't change my opinion about providing as much information about safety and car seats to people - especially people arriving from a country where car seats are not mandatory (btw - they ARE available there - my friends in the same city have car seats for their children). They can do whatever they want with that information.

[fnh]

@sampaguita, again, the OP asked a simple question and I answered it plainly and correctly, then I provided documentation supporting the answer when asked to do so. Apparently it was not an answer you wanted to see, but there it is. We can argue the merits or lack thereof of car seat laws on another thread if you like. I am a fully credentialed expert on risk, literally, and I have in fact reviewed the actual data, so I have more than pleas to emotion to contribute to the discussion.

If the OP makes additional arrangements for car seats to be available when he arrives, that's great! But, it isn't necessary or even necessarily safer.

Cheers!

[Sampaguita]

OMG!

LET IT GO ALREADY. Please. This has gone way beyond what the OP asked for - it's turning into a contest of wills and qualifications that I don't want to be a part of.

You are, of course, free to state your credentials and tell us that your DH IS an attorney with a very large law firm but that doesn't change the way I or others feel about how we choose to ensure our children's safety. Your credentials, interpretation of statutes and analysis of actual data does nothing to help secure my children or anyone else's in any vehicle.

You obviously look at situations differently and I can respect that and your need to share your analysis. But don't belittle how I, as a parent, feel about car seat safety by implying it's nothing more than an emotional plea.

[tmc300]

Hi, Thank you all for helping me to find out whether child seat is required if we take a taxi from airport to home. I didn't mean for this question to turn into a long debate. But I hope all the information in here will also help other overseas families moving to Houston. I guess other overseas families moving to Houston will have similar situation as us when they arrive at the airport.

We are coming from Hong Kong and the law does not require child seat for young children. However, the driving speed in HK is much slower than Houston. Also, we rarely take our baby out by car.

We were in Houston for the first time last November and we like Houston. The people are also very nice, friendly, and helpful. One negative for us about Houston is the driving. People drive so fast and so aggressive on the road and highway. I drove at speed limit and people still tailgate me and flashed their high beam to tell me to get out of their way. One day, I was driving on the I-10 East and connecting to Beltway 8 South. The car in front of me suddenly crash to the side ramp of the highway at full speed. The impact bounced the car back into the lane in front of me. I thought the driver will pull over. But instead, the driver speed up and drove even faster and passed many cars in front. It seems as if the driver was running away. I don't know if the driver was drunk or what, but it was daytime, like around noon. I wish I had video tape it and put it on YouTube.

Then another day, I was driving on local road and a car from the oncoming traffic made a left turn as I drove through the intersection. I have the right-of-way but the driver just made the left turn and almost hit me.

So, I definitely think buying a safe car and child seat are necessary in Houston. Thanks again for all your input and research.

[fnh]

Hi, if you don't have a friend meeting you at the airport I again encourage you to hire a town car. Much more spacious and comfortable and it will be waiting for you with car seats if you request them. You certainly deserve a bit of comfort after such a long and momentous trip!

All the best to you!

[14Bricks]

[SIZE=3]The reason why school buses or Taxis aren't required to have car seats is because the government doesn't really care about your children they just pass these laws to generate revenue through tickets/fines.[/SIZE]