Child Safety in Rideshare vs Taxis - Toronto & GTA Residents
The transportation landscape has changed tremendously over the past few years. Ride-hailing services, like Uber, Lyft, and Hovr, have interrupted the conventional taxi service by allowing users to book a ride on their phone, without speaking with or seeing anybody. For adults, this transition has often been heralded as cheaper, quicker, and more flexible. However, for parents, the critical question arises quickly: how safe are they for children?
Ensuring a child’s safety while traveling—whether it’s a simple trip to school, a transport to the airport, or an emergency hospital visit—demands careful consideration. While ride-sharing services and taxis provide the same basic transportation service, they differ in terms of legislation, child safety measures, and accountability. This article dives into those concerns in depth, so that parents can make more informed decisions.
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Following are the types of seats we offer when you book a taxi, with us with a child seat. We want you to travel stress-free.
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Local Laws of Ontario - Child Safety in Rideshare vs Taxis
For Taxis
In many jurisdictions, taxis are not required to have restraint systems for children. This exception is often justified on the basis of practicality since taxis are used by many different customers, not all of whom travel with children, and it is unrealistic to expect the taxi to have and maintain car seats for all ages. From the parent’s perspective, that means unless you bring your own car seat, the child rides unbelted and unrestrained even when the law requires them to be restrained in short-haul transportation in a private car.
For Rideshare Services
While Uber and Lyft function similarly to taxis, they are frequently regulated in a different way. In most areas, ride-share customers, including children, are not exempt from car seat regulations. This means that the parent/guardian is solely responsible for providing their children with the appropriate car seat.
For Taxis
The majority of taxis do not come equipped with child seats, and even in the cases when you do see a child seat already installed, there are still possible health and safety reasons for parents to worry.
When parents take in a taxi they often may want to book in advance their own portable or booster seat depending on the child’s age and weight, even if they haven’t used it in a while.
But, we offer special child seat, infant seats, and toddler seats for all our customers. Just let us while booking via call or mention child seat if you are booking online.
Also Read: Taxi With Child Car Seat
Ride-Shares
While there are specialized services, ride-share drivers do not typically have child seats. Services such as Uber Car Seat are convenient, but they are geographically limited and must be ordered in advance.
The advantage of ride-sharing is predictability: you know ahead of time whether your driver will provide a car seat, allowing you to make a more educated decision than hailing a random cab.
Vehicle Standards and Safety
For Taxis in Toronto
Local transportation authorities often enforce routine inspections of taxi fleets. These inspections may include brakes, lights, tires, and overall roadworthiness. However, the frequency and scope of these inspections varies greatly depending on the city.
Taxis in some areas may be older vehicles, indicating a lack of cutting-edge safety equipment such as electronic stability control, modern airbag systems, or child lock features. On the other hand, regulation requires that even older cabs pass basic safety assessments before being allowed on the road.
For Ride-Shares in Toronto
Ride-share drivers operate their own vehicles, which are typically required to fulfil a company’s age and condition standards. For example, in several cities, Uber does not accept automobiles older than 10-15 years. As a result, ride-sharing vehicles are frequently newer than taxis and have more modern safety measures.
However, it is the driver’s obligation to maintain the vehicle. While firms may conduct initial inspections or request images of the vehicle’s condition, the time between one inspection and the next may differ. Parents who routinely ride with their children may wish to physically verify the necessary like as seatbelts, door locks, and overall cleanliness before confirming the ride.
Driver Screening and Accountability
Taxi
Taxi drivers are normally subjected to government-supervised background checks before becoming licensed. These checks may include a driving record, criminal background, and, in some cases, health examinations. Some localities additionally mandate drivers to go through defensive driving, customer service, or kid passenger safety training programs.
Nevertheless, accountability might be limited. If a rider has a bad experience, he or she will usually file a complaint with the taxi commission, but they may or may not respond immediately. Tracking journeys in real-time is also limited.
We try to serve our customers with the best we can and have managed a whooping 97% customer satisfaction. Especially, when we offer taxi transfers to families.
Ride-Shares
Ride-share companies are focused on digital accountability. Each ride is documented by the app, including GPS tracking and time stamped. Riders can also share their ride information in real-time to friends and family, adding another layer of safety monitoring. Drivers are vetted through the background check process. Additionally, the rating system creates accountability by threatening to deactivate drivers who receive negative ratings, multiple times.
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Perception of Safety
Many parents believe that taxis are more “official” and thus safer because they are part of a regulated sector. Others prefer ride-sharing because of their modern vehicles, clear tracking, and opportunity to screen drivers using ratings.
Though neither approach may not necessarily be safer for kids, the most important issue is whether parents take precautions to ensure their child is properly restrained. A ride in a brand-new, app-tracked car remains unsafe if the child is not wearing a seat belt or is in the incorrect form of restraint.
What are some safety tips for parents using taxi or ride share services?
Regardless of whether you choose a taxi or ride-share, here are some steps that can make every travel safer for your child:
- If your child is under legal height/weight limitations, bring a travel-friendly car seat. Many brands now produce foldable or portable boosters.
- Before riding, inspect the seat belts, locks, and overall cleanliness. If the car feels hazardous, don’t hesitate to decline the ride.
- Use in-app features on ride-shares to always keep your concerned family members or friends updated and keep track of your route.
- Children should always sit in the backseat and be buckled in.
- Request in advance that you will need a car seat for your child.
- There are different car seat regulations in every city. It is a good idea to check the regulations of your home city and your destination city.
FAQs - Flat Rate Taxi at Vancouver Airport (YVR)
Yes, TorontoTaxiLimo provides child car seats, infant seats, toddler seats, and booster seats for your loved ones. Just let us know while booking.
Use the vehicle’s seat belt or LATCH/anchor system (if available), just as you would in your own car. Some ride-share/taxi vehicles will have these or choose a vehicle size that fits your car seat, especially for rear-facing seats, which may require more space. Before requesting a ride, you can notify the driver (by app message or phone call) that you will be using a car seat and confirm whether or not the vehicle can accept it.
Most youngsters are ready to travel without a car seat (booster included) between the ages of 10 and 12, when they are tall enough (about 145 cm / 4’9″) for the adult seatbelt to fit properly.
Conclusion
In conclusion, taxis and ride-hailing companies have their own benefits and limitations with respect to child safety. The issuance of taxi licenses means that taxis have regulations and policies to follow, but that doesn’t mean they will always have the latest safety features and the availability of child seats. Ride-hailing services often will have newer vehicles equipped with GPS tracking features and accountability via an application, but the child seat rules resting with the parent is a downside. For the most part, the parent’s preparation is the critical factor rather than the other rental option (taxis or ride-sharing). When parents prepare and know the guidelines in their locality, they can use either service while keeping their children safe when they are in the car.
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