Hey shifu, belt up!
Why do taxi drivers go out of their way to deny passengers the use of seatbelts?
Most of the cabs I get into have either the belts out and catches hidden OR catch out and belts hidden. The drivers must make a conscious decision to tease us with the notion of safety. It is as if they get some sick pleasure from letting you know they have seatbelts but you can’t use them so in the event of an accident your face will make bone crushing contact with either the bulletproof glass that protects the driver or the tv set in the back of the passenger seat. What a sick sense of humour they have.
Travelling with my 7-month-old son is like a lottery, I usually have to wait on the street in the cold while several cabs speed by presumably put off by the baby and buggy, especially with a Dad in sole charge! When one does stop I have to go through the pantomime of asking for the belts, at which point they often speed off. So I am left with the choice of putting my son loose in the back or strapped to the front seat to get mauled by a well meaning but ultimately grubby cabbie! Talk about catch 22!
Safety belts when used properly reduce the number of serious traffic injuries by 50 percent and fatalities by 60-70 percent. Estimates put the total number of lives saved globally by seatbelts at just over a million. In the USA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that a properly installed and used child safety seat lowers a child's risk of death by 71% for infants and by 54% for toddlers ages 1 to 4. In addition, a common cause of death and injury to children in cars is being crushed by adults who are not wearing safety belts. In fact, occupants thrown into each other cause one out of four serious injuries to passengers.
In China it became compulsory for drivers and front seat passengers to wear seat-belts in 2003 when will it be extended to the rear seat passengers?
Comments Add a public comment
Most Recent Comments
-
-
-
-
Really? Since 2003? Clearly it's not enforced...
-
-
wait, why should people with kids that get passed by (repeatedly!) by bj taxis not get "pissy"?? that's one of the biggest frustrations of living there!
-
-
well, it does piss me off as well...happens so often to me n my 1 year old...
-
-
Hey "The Brick", While maybe there aren't a lot of deadly taxi cab accidents, there certainly are a lot of ones that cause serious injuries. In the past 2 years alone I've had several friends who've been in taxi accidents. Their injuries have ranged from bruises, to broken noses ( from smashing their heads off the dash due to no seatbelts), to whiplash, to a fractured cheekbone. Seems serious enough to me. More concerning, an accident that happened in early morning traffic a few weeks ago that a bus load of students from our school witnessed. After slamming into the back of another car, the passengers of the car were propelled out of the windshield and killed. No seatbelts used in this situation. Also, I think the author of this post has a very valid concern. It may not be all about him, but it's also not all about you. The parental expat community has a right to want safety for themselves and their children. That's a basic human want. I am not a parent (yet), but I am a teacher. I would hope that my Chinese and international students and their families would have the option to buckle up. It just makes sense. I think it's unfortunate that you took such offense to such a suggestion. As expats here in Beijing, we should ALL care about the safety of Beijingers and expats alike. On a side note - Someday you may have a child....and may want it to be safe. Just a thought....
© 2007 Beijing Ringier International Advertising Company. All rights reserved.
京ICP备05061149号
dude, come on.. i am going to take it that you live out in the sticks where the driver can reach the excessive speeds of 50 kph... with all the traffic jams of today, in all parts of Beijing, the likely hood of a serious fatal accident happens is slim to none. so what is this all about.. you..??? i forgot, are we in the USA... ??? do not get pissy cause you have a baby and the drivers pass you buy. plus no one wants to deal with a foreigner with a baby and those strollers/buggy anyways...