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TAXI SAFETY
125
January14
TAXI SAFETY
If you don’t have a car in Singapore, being
chauffeured around in taxis while you catch up on
emails sounds ideal. But if you have a small kid in
tow who has outgrown a Maxi-Cosi but is too small
for an adult seatbelt, then what? How exactly are
you supposed to get around safely?
Do you:
a) Use a baby carrier to attach
your child to you, then wear a
seatbelt yourself?
b) Strap yourself into the seatbelt
and hold your unbelted child
tightly on your lap?
c) Strap yourself and your toddler
into the seatbelt together?
If you would have ticked any of the above, please think again –
these are not safe options. And if you need some visual proof
of why option (a) is out, check out The Car Seat Lady online.
By Beate Baldry
The Law in Singapore
As of 1 January 2012, anyone below the height
of 1.35m, rather than of a certain age, must be
secured with an appropriate restraint, booster seat
or adjustable seatbelt. Those 1.35m or taller are
required to wear a seatbelt, irrespective of age. Taxis
are exempt from child safety seat requirements.
A portable booster seat, the
Trunki Boostapak
gets
glowing user reviews. It doubles as a backpack, making it
somewhat easier to carry although it is still fairly bulky to lug
around. (And you know who will be the one left to carry it.)
After much research, I came across the
Ride Safer Travel
Vest
from Safe Traffic System. It consists of a pink or blue
padded vest which optimises the existing seatbelt system for a
small child’s body. It basically secures the car seatbelt across
the child’s chest and across the pelvis and thighs, preventing
the belt from sliding up onto the stomach.
Officially, the minimum weight is 13.6kg and the minimum
age for use is three years old; these are the requirements of
most booster seats. The smallest crash-test dummies used
to test the vest simulated a three-year-old child in the 50th
percentile for weight and height, so my personal decision
was to use this for my very stocky and tall toddler who
weighed 11.8kg at around 18 months. This was based on
the knowledge that he would only be using the vest for short
trips of 15 minutes, and that he was physically able and happy
to sit upright for the entire journey with an adult beside him.
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