Taxi Driver Online

I frequently get asked by passengers if they can carry an extra child, usually small enough to sit on someone's knee, in addition to the max no of passengers. I drive a Hackney license saloon Skoda Rapid, and on the license plate it says max no of passengers is 4. So if 4 adults got in and wanted to include a small child on the knee of one of them, then is this something that is generally allowed in the taxi trade ? Or is that max number of '4' an absolute, children included ?

The seatbelt law exempts taxis from needing to have child restraints, and according to Highway Code (rule 99) children under 3 can 'travel unrestrained' in a taxi (older children than that have to use an adult seatbelt).

So it would seem to me maybe they allow a child under 3 to sit on an adults knee, and that that child is not counted towards the total number of passengers. This would at least mean the seatbelt law was not being violated. And how many extra such children would be allowed ? There could be three adults in the back each with a child on their knee.

Does anybody know what the definitive regulations on this are - and does it depend on the particular licensing authority? What would you do ?

My taxi driver's license just says to carry no more than the max no of passengers, with nothing added re additional small children. So should I just turn down these requests and tell them they'll need to order 2 taxis, or a 'big' taxi ?

Child counts as a passenger, in essence your carrying 5 people.

1 belt per passenger

tell em no

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

You could have say a 7 seater licensed for 7 passengers! Assuming you allowed in addition to the 7 passengers a child/baby on the lap of one of them, you would/could be in big trouble. If god forbid you were involved in a fatal accident i.e all except you getting killed, they would list it as 8 bodies. It would invalidate your insurance, paving the way for you to be personally sued, and possibly ending up in jail.

I have seen greedy drivers taking 8 in a seven seater! One accident could ruin the lives of the driver and his family - it is not worth the risk.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

You don't need to have an accident to be in trouble. If you get caught by the police or licensing team you could lose your license.
A few years ago there was an incident here where a driver was caught on CCTV putting 2 extra people in the boot of his car. He did get prosecuted by the police and found guilty but he did somehow manage to keep hi license.

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Grandad,

How do you get 4 passengers in a rapid, they are only big enough for 3, with the rear passengers in the aircraft crash position kissing there ass goodby

exactly that's what I always say

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

OK that seems pretty conclusive - its a definite No then.

However regarding Highway Code (rule 99) - re children under 3 can 'travel unrestrained' in a taxi (older children than that have to use an adult seatbelt) - do you just seat the under 3 child on a seat WITHOUT seatbelt, or do you think its better to put their (adult) seat belt on ?

Which is actually the safer thing to do here? The Highway Code is just telling us we can do either it seems.

Some, but not all, parents carry their own restraint seat for a small child, eg a baby. I then place the seat belt around that whole seat, with seat facing forward.

However it is legal for a parent to come in the taxi and hold the child or baby on their lap ? ie the total no of passengers is NOT exceeding the limit (4 in my case) ?

With all the different types of seat and how they are fitted in the vehicle, I always insist that the parent fitts the belt. I don't know how we would stand if there was an accident and the belt had been fitted wrong.
I had one the other week, the dad took nearly 15 minutes to strap the seat in, I swear he hadn't a clue what he was doing.

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Grandad,

and me, like you said, 1 belt per passenger & dont get me started on dogs ffs!!

If you want to, do it.....dont come back bleating after tho, you asked for advice, you seem to know it all....

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

You are licensed by your LA for X passengers. X + Y passengers is not X passengers and is, therefore an offence under TPCA 1847 and LGMPA 1976. It is absolute. There will be no debate in court.

Simply count the number of heads equals that to the number your allowed to carry A mother or Father may strap a small child around both of them if child is sitting on their lap but only if the number of heads equals that of what your allowed to carry

There is that allowance that two children equals 1 adult regarding extra charges, don't get the two confused

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Alway's been about Tightening the Grip!

As taxis we are exempt from having to have child restraints - (Highway Code rule no 99). The reason I'm now knowledgable about this stuff is I have just started doing my mandatory SVQ Level 2 Taxi Driving Course, a 26 hour long course - so I thought I better get reading the various DVSA manuals, as its been a LONG time since I passed my driving test. We get two driving tests during this course. They want to check we are 'professional drivers'.

So given that, I was wondering can an adult sit a child under 3 on their knee, or must the child sit back in the adult seat. Please note this question has nothing to do with max no of passengers - it could be one mum and her 2 year old coming out of Asda. The HC says such child under 3 does not need to wear any seatbelt at all.

I cannot remember when or where (perhaps on here);

I was told NOT to allow a parent/adult to put the strap around themselves and a child. The passenger was only allowed to strap themselves and to then hold the child outside of the strap/restraint. The reasoning was that in the event of an accident/severe braking, the inertia would snap shut firmly holding the passenger back, the passenger at the same time would also be forcibly coming forward, between the two forces it could crush a small child sat on their lap.

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Common sense........is just not that Common.