3Boys:The rules that are applied here for car seats vis-a-vis private vehicles is reasonably similar to those in other countries. At the end of the day, it is a balance between ensuring safety vs some practical implementation aspects.
Child restraint in vehicles has been shown to save lives, evidence proves this.
Therefore, if a child is in a vehicular conveyance, they should be strapped in. It is the law.
The main mode of vehicular conveyance is assumed to be the parent's car. May not always be the case, but this is the most easily enforceable. If an adult has a child, and wishes to drive that child around, go get a car seat.
This is not the case for taxis. Taxi's infrequently pick up children requiring car seats. It is also impractical to be setting up and taking seats down at the streetside.
Hence, taxis are exempted. This is the case for many countries, not just Singapore.
So no, the TP is not saying that that travelling in taxi w/o a car seat is safer than travelling in a car w/o car seat, but there are other things to consider.
Of course we understand the importance of child seat. But now the problem is such that is it so serious that it warrant a 3 point deduction plus a $130 fine for a grandparent that is picking up a child ( for the first time ) due unforeseen reason that parent (with car seat in the car) to pick the child.
I have even send pic of my carseat together with my appeal letter to prove that that was really a 1 time off favour fr my in laws. My in law had also ask for chance to let them go n purchase the car seat immediately as they does not ferry children n is not aware of the change of law.
This rule is not feasible because it didn't take into consideration of many other circumstances a family with young children will face. For eg for my case if i would have known that my in law would b stop by TP then what would i have done differently? Ans: Nothing coz i wouldnt have make my kid take a taxi home on her own as this could pose more danger than not having a car seat in her grandparent's car. Asking my in law to take a taxi to pick my child is equally silly as i trust my in law to drive carefully more then i trust a taxi driver (if my kid is without car seat).
issit traffic rules there to help make our road safer for any road user.
workers sitting behind lorries without seatbelt= no traffic offence= gd safety
kid sitting at the rear of the car without car seat but with seatbelt = not safe
What kind of double traffic standard are we having?
We shouldn't just compare base on this rule with other country unless we know exactly what is overall state of the traffic conditions and how they implement the traffic laws. We also need to know what kind of support their drivers have.
A law that is right for others may not be suitable for us.
