Taxis and Child Seats

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Tue 13 May 2008 14:31
Taxis and Child Seats - RaineMan

I am going to a gathering of the extended family on Sunday. Many of us are meeting for lunch. After lunch we are moving on elsewhere. Herein lies the problem. Many are arriving via public transport and will not have cars. This means we will have to use a number of taxis to avoid frantic shuttling back and forth. As there will be a number of children, and a few babies, there I wondered if the child seat rules applied to taxis? If they do we will have a logistical nightmare!
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Tue 13 May 2008 14:34
Taxis and Child Seats - doctorchris
I don't know the answer but isn't it crazy that anyone, adult or child, can sit unrestrained in a bus or train (sit, stand more often than not) but in a private car we all have to be belted in?
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Tue 13 May 2008 14:46
Taxis and Child Seats - FotheringtonThomas
Less chance of a crash in a bus or train, perhaps. Fewer individuals involved, too, in total.
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Tue 13 May 2008 19:55
Taxis and Child Seats - P3t3r
Less chance of a crash in a bus or train perhaps.


lol, have you seen the way they drive?

I'm not sure about the reasons, but with larger vehicles it will take longer to stop, which will help, but it's still probably dangerous.
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Tue 13 May 2008 21:11
Taxis and Child Seats - Number_Cruncher
>>with larger vehicles it will take longer to stop

For road vehicles, size isn't a big factor in determining how long it takes to stop [fundamentally, the same weight that takes more effort to stop also pushes down on the road with more force, allowing more friction force to be developed by the tyres]

Rail vehicles do take much longer to stop - while cars on dry roads may come close to [and exceed in some cases] decelerating at a rate of 100% of g, a train is doing an emergency stop at 12.5% of g!! If the rails aren't dry, then 12.5% g is not obtainable.

A quick calc of an HST on the speed limiter;

v_mph=132;
v_ms=1609.3*v_mph/3600


v_ms =

59.0077

Before braking starts, the train is doing just short of 60 metres per second.
mu=0.125;
g=9.81;
s_d=(v_ms^2)/(2*mu*g)


s_d =

1.4197e+003

and the resulting braking distance is 1420 metres!

For a car at, say, 70% g, the braking distance is about 250 metres

Of course, the stopping distance is greater than this - I haven't included any thinking distance, or any delay for the air brake signal to travel along the length of the train.

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Tue 13 May 2008 14:46
Taxis and Child Seats - deepwith
Our local taxi firm has baby seats - ask when you book your cab/s as they keep them in the office mainly. Most of their cabs also have a booster with them. Small babies often arrive in their car seats which are part of their buggy, even on public transport!

The law says that if there is a restraint available in a taxi, then it must be used. If there is not one available that the under 3's can travel unrestrained. Over 3's must be belted in. See:

tinyurl.com/lxcq8
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Tue 13 May 2008 14:47
Taxis and Child Seats - Dynamic Dave
All info here:-

www.childcarseats.org.uk/law/fromseptember06.htm


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Wed 14 May 2008 01:44
Taxis and Child Seats - RaineMan

Thanks. I will ask the people that live in the area to give their local taxi firms a call. Might even get a discount for a block booking?
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