Child car seats in taxis and minicabs

GOV.UK puts the taxi rule in one place. If the driver of a licensed taxi or minicab (private hire vehicle) does not provide the correct child car seat, children can travel without one, but only if they travel on a rear seat: wearing an adult seat belt if they are 3 or older, and without a seat belt if they are under 3.

Two conditions have to be true together. It must be a licensed taxi or minicab, and the correct child seat must not have been provided. A friend's car, an unlicensed lift, or a company pool car is not this exception. Sitting in the front of the taxi is not this exception either.

Highway Code rule 99's table matches the same idea: if a correct child restraint is not available in a taxi, a child under 3 may travel unrestrained in the rear, and a child from the third birthday up to 135 cm must use an adult belt in the rear when the correct restraint is not available.

GOV.UK does not require a taxi or minicab driver to carry child seats. The exception exists because many will not have the right one for your child. If they do provide the correct approved seat, use it as the label and the instructions require. The exception is for when that seat is not provided, not for when you would rather not fit it.

Licensed is the word that matters. In England and Wales that means a hackney carriage or a private hire vehicle licensed by a council. In Scotland the same GOV.UK page still describes licensed taxis and minicabs. nidirect uses 'taxi or minibus' for the under-3 unrestrained rear-seat exception in Northern Ireland. Do not treat an unbooked unofficial car as a taxi for this purpose.

You can. If you fit an approved seat that matches the child, you are back on the ordinary child seat rules: label, fitting method, and the airbag rule if you were ever tempted to put a rear facing seat in the front. Most taxi front airbags cannot be switched off by the passenger, so a rear facing baby seat belongs in the rear if it goes in at all.

ISOFIX is uncommon in older taxis. A belt-fitted seat needs a diagonal strap. A black cab's rear seat belts and a minicab's rear bench are not the same geometry. If the seat will not fit as instructed, do not travel with it jammed in. Use the taxi exception in the rear instead, or wait for a car that accepts the seat.

They are separate exceptions. The unexpected journey rule is for a child aged 3 or older, using an adult belt, when the journey is unexpected, necessary and over a short distance. You cannot take a child under 3 on an unexpected journey in a vehicle without the correct child seat unless it is a licensed taxi or minicab and the child travels on a rear seat without a belt.

A planned school run in a neighbour's car is not unexpected. A dash to A&E in a private car with a 4 year old and no booster can meet the unexpected, necessary, short-distance test; a weekly minicab to the childminder cannot. The taxi exception exists so that a booked cab without a seat is still lawful in the rear.

Minibus or coach drivers and companies do not have to provide child car seats. You must provide your own if you want to make sure a child has one. On a coach, children can travel without a child car seat or seat belt if they are not available.

In a minibus, all children must travel in rear seats (any seats behind the driver) if a child car seat or an adult seat belt is not fitted. Children aged 3 or older must use a child car seat if there is one available, and use an adult seat belt if child seats are not fitted or are unsuitable.

The rules for vans are the same as for cars. There is no van version of the taxi exception. A tradesman's van on a school pickup is an ordinary car-seat journey.

nidirect says a child under 3 may travel unrestrained in the rear of a taxi or a minibus if the right child restraint is not available. From the third birthday, three exceptions allow travel in the rear with an adult seat belt: a taxi if the right restraint is not available; a short distance in an unexpected necessity; and where two occupied child restraints prevent fitting a third and no suitable restraint is available in the front.

The Northern Ireland published penalty for not using the right restraint is a £60 fixed penalty and three points, or up to £500 in court. Great Britain's current published figures are a £100 fixed penalty and up to £500 in court, with no points at present.

A baby is put in the front so the adult can hold them. The exception is rear only, and a rear facing seat in front of a live airbag is separately forbidden.

A parent treats a lift from a colleague as a minicab. Unless it is a licensed taxi or private hire vehicle, the taxi exception does not apply.

A 3 year old travels unrestrained because 'they are only little'. From the third birthday the taxi exception requires the adult belt in the rear.

A child under 3 is taken on an unexpected private-car journey with no seat, on the taxi wording. GOV.UK does not allow that combination.

Myth: black cabs are exempt from all child seat law. They are not. The exception is conditional and rear-only.

Myth: private hire apps are unlicensed so the rules do not apply. Licensed private hire is exactly what GOV.UK means by minicab. Unlicensed cars get no taxi exception.

Myth: if the driver says it is fine in the front, the law agrees. GOV.UK does not. The exception is the rear seat.