Taxis: Provision of Child Booster Seats/Cushions

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A decision made 16 November 2015:

Decision Reference: MD-T-2015-0091
Decision Summary Title :	To make provision for child booster seats / cushions in taxis		Date of Decision Summary:	11 November 2015
Decision Summary Author:	Senior Traffic Officer		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	To make provision for child booster seats / cushions in taxis		Date of Written Report:	11 November 2015
Written Report Author:	Senior Traffic Officer		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: In accordance with Article 7 of the Road Traffic (Jersey) Law 1935, to prescribe a condition of fitness requiring all taxis and cabs, from 01 March 2016, to make available for appropriate use a child booster seat/cushion.
Decision(s): The Minister agreed to prescribe a condition of fitness requiring all taxis and cabs, from 01 March 2016, to make available for appropriate use a child booster seat/cushion in accordance with ECE R 44/04.
Reason(s) for Decision: To ensure, in the interests of safety, that children travelling in taxis and cabs can be securely seated and safely restrained.
Resource Implications: None
Action required: Head of DVS to advise the Taxi-Cab Industry of the Minister’s decision.
Signature:		Position: Minister for Transport and Technical Services
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Taxis: Provision of Child Booster Seats/Cushions

TRANSPORT & TECHNICAL SERVICES

CHILD BOOSTER SEATS/CUSHIONS IN ALL TAXI-CABS

PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

To seek the support of the Minister for Transport and Technical Services, in accordance with his powers under Article 7 of the Road Traffic (Jersey) Law 1935, to prescribe a condition of fitness requiring all taxis and cabs, from 01 March 2016, to make available for appropriate use a child booster-cushion.

BACKGROUND

Following the Taxi-cab Industry White Paper consultation in 2014, a number of recommendations were made as to how the future of the industry should be regulated and what enhancements should be made for the benefit of the public. One of the enhancements was to improve child safety by ensuring that when children are travelling in Taxis and Cabs they are securely seated and safely restrained as far as is practically possible.

Ministerial Decision MD-T-2015-0080 ‘Taxi-Cab Regulatory Reforms Programme’ states:

3.1 A requirement will be introduced for all vehicles to carry a child booster seat and to be fitted with either ‘all age’ adjustable seat belts or an aftermarket adjuster that meets the appropriate standard.

While there is no industry standard for the provision of child seats for taxi-cabs, there are standards for other categories of motor vehicles and it is generally accepted that children should be carried as safely as possible while passengers in any vehicle.

The Worldwide standard for child booster seats/cushions is United Nations (UN) - ECE R44.04. The European child car safety standard ECE R44 was introduced in 1982 and tests child car seats on an annual basis. To identify that the booster seat/cushion complies with the latest Standard every child car seat in Europe has an orange ECE R44 approval label. The orange label guarantees that the car seat complies with the basic safety requirements as set out in the European safety standard ECE R44, see Appendix A.

The term ‘children’ under the regulation is taken to mean those under 12 years of age, and those who may be older but who are less than 135cms tall.

There are two types of child booster seat 1) those with no backs eg cushions, and 2) those with high backs eg seats. Carrying a seat with a back is not considered practicable in a taxi-cab or compatible with a working vehicles’ high demand for luggage space. Cushions on the other hand, due to their limited bulk, would be practical to carry in a taxi-cab.

The accepted car industry definition of "booster-cushion" means a firm cushion, which can be used with an adult seatbelt. This report limits its considerations to the provision of booster-cushions.

DISCUSSION

In 2006 the European Directive 2003/20/EC made it mandatory to provide child-restraint systems in most categories of vehicles. Since its introduction a significant decline in UK child deaths from road accidents has occurred, particularly among those aged 10-14 years demonstrating the benefits of using such equipment while transporting children.

However taxi-cabs were exempt and for most European jurisdictions, including the UK, the rules for children travelling in taxi-cabs have been limited to requiring children from three years upwards to use seat belts and be carried in the rear of the vehicle.

Seat belts are engineered for adults and are thus too big for small children. Booster-cushions lift the child and allow the seat belt to sit firmly across the collar bone and chest, with the lap portion fitted to the hips. If the seat belt is not across the collar bone and the hips, it will ride across the neck and stomach and cause internal injuries in the event of a collision.

The 2014 Taxi Regulation White Paper recommended that child safety enhancements should be made within the industry in Jersey. It considered that all taxi-cabs should be able to offer improved comfort and safety to their younger customers by having a booster-cushion or adjustable seat belts available for their customers if required.

Of course, not every age, size, weight or number of children can be catered for by equipment carried in an individual taxi-cab, due to luggage capacity space, etc. Because of this, there is no intention to make it mandatory for a child in a taxi-cab to use a child restraint system or change carriage rules. However, any facility that advances the ability of the industry to transport children safely is a tangible step forward, as well as advancing the customer service on offer.

Approved booster-cushions are readily available from most high street retailers as well as via the internet from a number of reputable sources. From research undertaken (October 2015) the cost of a booster-cushion starts from only £12.99. The table below illustrates typical high-street prices for booster-cushions.

High Street Retailer	Lowest cost	Highest cost	No of Manufacturers
Mothercare	£14.99	£ 24.99	12
Boots the Chemist	£17.99	£ 23.99	4
Halfords	£ 12.99	£ 17.99	5

[Note: Portable, lightweight, inflatable car booster-cushions such as ‘Bubblebum’ are also available from £20.00. They deflate easily and can be packed away flat, so it would be possible for a taxi-cab to carry more than one.]

While this initiative does not solve all the issues surrounding transporting children all of the time it would represent a significant safety advancement at a modest cost. While some taxi-cab firms can when requested provide child seats for pre-booked journeys, this does not address the needs of young families when hailing or using the rank for ‘immediate hire’ journeys. This proposal addresses these instances and puts Jersey taxi-cabs at the front of providing family friendly services.

RECOMMENDATION

The Minister is asked to prescribe a condition of fitness requiring all taxis and cabs, from 01 March 2016, to make available for appropriate use a child booster seat/cushion in accordance with ECE R 44/04.

REASON(S) FOR DECISION

To ensure, in the interests of safety, that children travelling in taxi-cabs can be securely seated and safely restrained if required.

ACTION REQUIRED

Head of DVS to advise the Taxi-Cab Industry of the Minister’s decision and include such condition on taxi-cab vehicle licences as from 01 March 2016.

Written by:	Senior Traffic Officer

Approved by:	Director of Transport

Attachments:	Appendix A