Child Seat Policy

What New York law requires

This surprises people, so it is worth stating plainly rather than leaving to be discovered.

• New York's child restraint law exempts taxis and liveries from the requirement to carry a child in a car seat or booster seat. We are a licensed livery, so that exemption applies to our vehicles.
• The seat belt requirement is not exempt. A passenger aged eight or over must wear a seat belt, and the driver must not set off until those passengers are belted.
• Every passenger aged sixteen or over must wear a seat belt.
• Exempt means permitted, not advisable. The physics of a collision does not read the statute, and a child in a proper seat is safer than a child without one in every vehicle ever tested.
• This is a summary of the law as we understand it, not legal advice, and the law can change.

Requesting a seat

Ask when you book. A seat cannot be conjured at the kerb.

• Choose the type and the number of seats on the booking form. The price per seat appears there and on the quote.
• Most vehicles in the fleet take child seats. Where one does not, the option does not appear for that vehicle. That is a fact about the vehicle rather than a setting.
• A vehicle can only take as many seats as it has suitable anchor points and belt positions. Ask us if you need three or more.
• Add the seats before you confirm. Adding one on the day depends entirely on what is on the car already.
• If you tell us the child's age and rough size in the notes, we will fit the right one rather than the one you clicked.

Who fits it, and who checks it

The chauffeur will help. The final check belongs to the adult travelling.

• The seat is installed in the vehicle before it arrives, and the chauffeur will adjust it and help you get the child in.
• A parent or guardian should satisfy themselves that the seat and the harness are right before the car moves. Nobody else can judge the fit of a harness on your child.
• If anything about the fit looks wrong to you, say so. We will refit it, swap it, or wait. None of that is a problem and none of it is charged.
• If you would rather fit it yourself, do. The chauffeur will give you the time and a hand with the door.

Bringing your own seat

Common, sensible, and welcome. Two practical points.

• Tell us at booking so the chauffeur knows to allow the time, and so the boot is planned around it.
• A seat in its own bag counts towards the luggage capacity of the vehicle. An infant seat and four large cases will not fit in a sedan.
• If you are flying in with a seat, add it as a bag when you tell us your luggage. It is easier than discovering it at the kerb.
• There is no charge for a seat you bring yourself.

Travelling with children generally

• A child in a seat occupies a seat. Count them in the passenger number so the vehicle is big enough.
• A lap infant still needs somewhere to be restrained, so count them too.
• An SUV or a minivan is usually the easier answer with two seats and luggage. A sedan with two child seats has very little boot left.
• Tell us if there is a pram, a travel cot or a buggy. Those decide the vehicle more often than the passenger count does.

If we cannot supply one

Rare, and never something we let you find out at the kerb.

• If a requested seat cannot be supplied, we tell you before the journey and offer another vehicle that can take one.
• If neither works, the booking is cancelled and refunded in full, with no fee.
• We will not send a car without a seat that was asked for and quietly hope it is fine.