Catching taxis with baby

L

lam1972

New member
Hi,

We are from Australia, and will be having a holiday in HK with our 1 year old son in June this year.

In Australia, we have to use baby seats by law, including taxis. What are the regulations regarding babies in taxis in HK?

Would most people put babies in baby seats when travelling in cars / taxis, or would they just hold them on their lap most of the time?

Thanks for your comments / suggestions.
 
i don't have a car seat, so i put my baby in the baby bjorn or sling & put the seat belt between us. it is apparently the next safest thing to a car seat.

as far as i can see (from seeing people in cars near my home) there seems to be no law regarding baby seats - so often i see babies/toddlers on their parents' knees in the front seat of the car...

i hope you have a good trip.
 
I catch a taxi at least a few times a week with my 2 month old baby - I have a pram and a baby carrier... I know that the baby carrier is safer in the cab, but if I have the pram out that day instead, I just hold my baby in my arms. I don't feel TOO unsafe doing it because generally the places I go, the cab doesn't really go much faster than 60 because of traffic and all that... I know it's not ideal, and it's the TOTAL opposite to what I'm used to back home in Australia... but that's life over here!!
 
I do the same, I carry my 14 months old boy in a baby carrier (that way he stays quite calm), and put the pram in the taxi...
 
When we have travelled to HK with a baby we didn't brin along the infant carrier for practical reasons. I would hold the baby on my lap or keep him in an infant carrier and I prayed we wouldn't be in an accident. It was very uncomfortable, since in canada I wouldn't even dream of driving down a quite residential street for 1 block without a car seat, but we still did it.
On our next trip to HK we are going to China and I am really worried about that, as the last time I was there (befoire I had children) the traffic was INSANE! It was basically drive wherever you want with no rules at all. I don't think there were even seat belts in van.
 
I honestly think there is no second best option when it comes to safety. Car seats are the safest, and no other option is second best. In the end you won't be able to hold your child even though the car is only 50 kmh. We try to avoid taxis with the kids when necessary (take a lot of busses) and otherwise we'll buckle them up as far as we can. However, in the car they're always in 5 point harnasses (4 1/2 yo and 2 yo twins). I am still surprised by the number of (very) young children in HK driving in regular seats belts, without car seats or boosters, in the front seats, or worse, on laps in the front seats. You won't be able to hold your child, and you won't need to drive 100 kmh to kill a child. And boosters are proven not to be safe for children 3 and under (the US AAP recommends 5-point harnasses up to 40lbs and 4 yo, but the longer the better). It makes me wonder, are there actually car seat laws in HK? Simple laws to protect small and vulnerable children?
 
Thanks to everyone for your replies. Could you clarify what you mean by baby carrier and infant carrier? Is a baby carrier similar to a Baby Bjorn/sling?
 
I used the same word for 2 different things, sorry. In my post the the first "infant carrier" mean infant car seat, the second meant the baby bjorn
 
just a little side note...
last week in one of the car parks in sai kung, i saw a driver with a baby on his lap!!! the baby couldn't have been more than about 6 months or so and he was holding onto the steering wheel and everything!

the driver backed into the spot holding the baby like this... i almost died when i saw it!

to the OP> not all states require babyseats in taxis... we just returned from a trip to oz and were told by a police officer at the airport that in taxis it wasn't necessary... that was for queensland.
 
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