Child Car Seats in Taxicabs? | Virginia Personal Injury Attorney
Parents visiting metropolitan areas such as Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C. or New York City face a safety problem that is not commonly known unless you are a parent that lives in the city and rely on a taxi or cab as your primarily mode of transportation – taxis in many metropolitan cities are not required to have and/or use child car safety seats and may be exempt from child restraint laws. This is an unfortunate reality to tourists traveling with children that had planned to use cabs to get around and sightsee that are normally accustomed to using a child car seat.
So what is a parent that prefers to use a car seat in the city that exempts taxis from using child safety seats? Some taxi companies offer a cab with a child seat if you call in advance. If that is not an option, you will have to either carry a car seat with you, utilize the subway system, rent a car with an optional child safety seat, use a hotel shuttle with a child safety seat (if available), determine whether or not your hotel offers child car seats for guest use, or simply walk.
So, before you finalize any travel plans to a metropolitan area, you may want to consult with the tourism commission or research whether or not that particular city’s taxis or cabs are exempt from child restraint laws. You may also want to start you research on the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety handy guide to state child restraint laws; however, major cities may have an exemption for taxicabs.
The District of Columbia DC Taxicab Commission clears up any confusion regarding use of child safety seats with the following statement on their website:
What are the rules regarding the use of seatbelts and child safety seats in taxicabs?
Drivers of the taxicab and for-hire vehicles are exempt from the laws regarding seat belts and the vehicles are exempt from providing child safety seats. The passengers, however, are required to use seat belts. The DCTC, however, encourages everyone in the vehicle to buckle their seatbelts while riding in a cab and requires taxicab vehicles to post a decal to that effect. Passengers with children are encouraged to bring their own car seats, which the drivers must allow passengers to install.
Virginia Child Restraint Device Law can be found at the Virginia Department of Health website.
Other article on child car seats in taxicabs:
lil sugar – Mommy Dearest: Car Seats and the City
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