# S/O Would you send your young child alone in a Taxi Cab?



## dubfam (Nov 4, 2005)

This came up on another thread, and I am just surprised that people do this.

But that is what I love about MDC...it helps me remember that people do things different in other cities/countries etc....

So would you send your kindergarten or first grade age child alone in a Taxi Cab on the spur of the moment, with no prior background checks or anything on the driver?


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## Joyster (Oct 26, 2007)

I thought about the true emergency option, but I'm having difficulties coming up with that kind of scenario. For me, true emergencies would probably require ambulances. So my answer was no. Certainly not to school, my child would stay home before I sent them off with a stranger.


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## CarrieMF (Mar 7, 2004)

I won't go in cabs, the 2 times I have been in 1 I've had other people with me. I wouldn't go in one alone, so nope never would I send a child in one by themselves.


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## mbhf (Jan 8, 2005)

oh my god no.


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## DreamsInDigital (Sep 18, 2003)

No.Way.


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## sunnmama (Jul 3, 2003)

No way.

I wouldn't be ok with it. And more importantly, my first grader wouldn't be ok with it.


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## momz3 (May 1, 2006)

Never.


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## ashleyhaugh (Jun 23, 2005)

when we were in germany (on an army base) there were a few cabs at the school every morning dropping kids off. i dont know if i would do it though. these were the same cabs bringing the same kids everyday, and they had like a school bus sign in the window


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## kblackstone444 (Jun 17, 2007)

Perhaps in a true emergency, but it depends on the child's age and personality (actually, doesn't everything?) and I would be in very close contact with the taxi place letting them know that my child is being transported alone, from where to where and to be notified when they get there. The place they were going would probably have to notify me also that the child got there safely. My little girl is 7. I'd be kinda nervous about it. My son is almost 13. He'd be fine.


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## Twinklefae (Dec 13, 2006)

I voted Sure. I used to work in a preschool where several of the children were taken back and forth by cab everyday. The cab company was small, and they were comfortable with it.


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## lilyka (Nov 20, 2001)

depends. We have a cab service here that caters to children. in a random cab with some scuzy driver I have never met before. heck I wouldn't even do that,


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## Sage_SS (Jun 1, 2007)

Never. I live in a city where children go missing every week. Taken from their driveways. I would never put my child in a car with a total stranger and say goodbye.

If I lived in a small town and I knew the drivers, then maybe, but still prob no. I've never even thought about this before so my thoughts are a bit jumbled trying to come up with instances where I'd be ok with that.


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## allgirls (Apr 16, 2004)

My ex-sil used to do it when she had no way to get the kids to class. My brother was a bit sketchy about the idea so he called children's aid to get their take on it. They said it was perfectly safe and common. They live in a city of about 200000 in SW Ontario Canada. The kids were 6 and 9.


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## allgirls (Apr 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Sage_SS* 
Never. I live in a city where children go missing every week


Wow! Every week? Where do you live? I live near Toronto/Hamilton and many other major cities and I hear about maybe one every year or so in the entire province. Ok..maybe 2. Stranger abductions are rare and the last one I heard of happened in Quebec a few monthes back. Maybe I am out of touch.


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## just_lily (Feb 29, 2008)

It depends. In a large city, no. In a small town where I know the drivers? Probably, depending on the circumstances. I went to school in a small town and knew all of the drivers and would be ok with that.

When I was in kindergarten the school closest to my house was too full (we moved in December so I was trying to transfer in) and the school board wanted to bus me accross town to a different school. My mom refused to put me on such a long bus ride at 5, so the compromise was that the board paid for a cab. I had the same driver every day, who made sure I got safely to school, and safely home. If that situation happen to occur with my child, I would be ok with it.

I would put my child in a cab alone before I would put them on a plane alone. At the very least you can always get the cab # and driver identification beforehand.


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## BookGoddess (Nov 6, 2005)

Nope. I wouldn't be ok with it, DH wouldn't be ok with it, and DD wouldn't be ok with it.


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## ThreeBeans (Dec 2, 2006)

You forgot the, "HELL TO THE NO!" option.


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## choli (Jun 20, 2002)

I would. We live in the city, don't have a car, and my DDs have been used to cabs from a young age.

In Boston, each cab has to display the medallion number, and the driver's identification with the name. If I put the kid/s in a cab, I take the medallion #, his name, and give the directions. If they get in by themselves, they call me by cellphone to give me the information. They call me on arrival as well. We always use the same cab company.

DD1 was 7 when she first took a cab by herelf, and in the past 7 years neither she or DD2 have ever had any problems. They both are well versed in city travel, between public transportation, cab and foot.

I'm proud of my independent, street smart DDs


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## Roar (May 30, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Sage_SS* 
Never. I live in a city where children go missing every week. Taken from their driveways.

Are you sure you aren't exaggerating a bit there?

Child kidnapping by strangers is incredibly rare. I'd suggest actually looking at the statistics before you decide kids are missing every week.


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## Literate (Jan 4, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *just_lily* 
I would put my child in a cab alone before I would put them on a plane alone. At the very least you can always get the cab # and driver identification beforehand.

Huh, what? A cab can stop anywhere. A plane is a locked vehicle with no way out until the predetermined destination.


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## Sage_SS (Jun 1, 2007)

sorry guys. I should have said district. The GVRD is comprised of a few cities. And the kids aren't always taken. Some just walk off.

The new hosptial being built is making a seperate Kids Psychiatric ward. I had no idea kids needed this. We already have a huge building for developmental and behavioural issues, but this is specifically for psychiatric problems.

And I didn't specify who it was taking the kids. I know stranger abductions are rarer than familial abductions.

Its scary how the child abduction rates have gone up in the last few years.


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## AllisonR (May 5, 2006)

I voted sure, but that is because of where we live. DS goes to a school where several kids are dropped off - picked up every day by cabies. They are handicapped and the family may live more than 20km from the school, which means the govt. provides transport each day. Kids are aged 3-5.

I loved in NYC for 11 years. And if we were there, no way would my 3.5 yo be in a cab alone. I think I would let my pre-teen take a cab as long as he was with 2 or 3 other kids, but not sure alone. Then again, I'm not there anymore, so I can't say for certain.


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## JesseMomme (Apr 6, 2002)

I picked maybe in an emergency. I have never lived in a city or elsewhere where cab riding was the norm, it's more for special circumstances.


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## snowbunny81 (Jan 2, 2008)

It really depends on the child and the situation. Sometimes you just do what you've got to do. If, for some unforseen circumstance, I and my husband were unable to pick my kid up from school, I'd rather her take a cab to a relative's house as opposed to waiting at school alone. That is, assuming the relative doesn't have a way to pick her up in the first place.


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## Momily (Feb 15, 2007)

Probably not although it's probably no less safe than many other things I've done. Cabbies do go through background checks, and you could get their medallion number. I also generally think that the risk with people you seek out is less than the risk when someone seeks you out.

I live in a city where kids ride cabs to special ed schools, but that's different. Its the same driver every day, they have a special background check, and often the parents ride with them the first few times. I remember one little boy I taught and the way his face would light up when he saw his driver. The two of them were together about 2 hours a day and had really bonded -- it was quite sweet.

I'm always suprised when people say they "couldn't imagine such an emergency". Maybe I have a better imagination than most. One child's being taken off by ambulance -- they'll let a parent ride but not a second child. Send DS to grandma or to school where I know he's safe so I can stay with the baby -- yeah, I can imagine that.


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## littleaugustbaby (Jun 27, 2003)

I put maybe in a TRUE emergency, but I'm having a really hard time imagining an emergency that would warrant a small child riding in a cab alone.


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## aihcalappa (Sep 30, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *littleaugustbaby* 
I put maybe in a TRUE emergency, but I'm having a really hard time imagining an emergency that would warrant a small child riding in a cab alone.









:

That's pretty much what I was going to say.


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## angelpie545 (Feb 23, 2005)

I am hard pressed to think of any situation in which I'd feel comfortable trusting a complete stranger with the well-being of my child, and I'm not one to cast suspicion easily.


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## akwifeandmomma (Aug 13, 2005)

What?! No.


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## crazydiamond (May 31, 2005)

I wouldn't because cabs aren't common in the city I live in. In the 10 years I've lived here, I've never taken a cab and certainly wouldn't put my child on one alone for the first time.

However, if I lived in an area where cabs were common and we rode them all the time, my views would likely be different. I think in *choli's* situation, I'd probably do the same.


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## just_lily (Feb 29, 2008)

Reaction to my comment that I would put my child in a cab alone, before a plane.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Literate* 
Huh, what? A cab can stop anywhere. A plane is a locked vehicle with no way out until the predetermined destination.

With a cab, there is a single driver I have to worry about, who I can get I.D. from, the licence number, and contact info from the cab company. It would be a cab that I have pre-arranged from a company that I know. Wherever my child was going, I would make sure that there was someone on the other end to meet the driver. I can't imagine that I would be sending her anywhere that the ride would last longer than 20 to 30 minutes.

With a plane, I don't know the pilots, I don't know the flight attendants, and definitely don't know the several hundred other people on the plane. The flight would certainly be longer than a cab ride. I would be relying on various staff members to help my child navigate a busy airport to meet whoever was picking her up. Seems a lot riskier to me than a short cab ride.

I live in Canada and one of our domestic airlines recently had an incident where a 5-year-old flying alone was allowed to leave the plane with a stranger. There was no mal intention involved, it just happened in the mass confusion that occurs as soon as the plane reaches the gate and the seatbelt light gets turned off. Everyone was leaving, so the girl left too. The stranger did help her find whoever was meeting her, but the parents raised a pretty big stink about it. The airline has determined that they can't guarantee that another incident like that will not happen again, so they now refuse all unaccompanied minors.


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## velochic (May 13, 2002)

I think it's important to point out here that in the US, we do not have the regulated driving services that some European mommy's are referring to.

Using a driving service is equivalent to asking "Would you let your child ride a school bus." Most people would say "yes".

In this case, I believe that we are talking about putting a 5 year old child in a car, by themselves, for a one-time trip, in a city, with a stranger you have literally never met before (who cares if you can get their badge number and name) and letting them drive away. I can't imagine anyone at all that would agree to doing that... even in other countries.


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## bnhmama (Nov 28, 2006)

Heck no. Would not even consider it. If I absolutely had to use a cab, I'd ride with him and then take the cab back home. If that wasn't an option, he just wouldn't go.


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## amitymama (Nov 17, 2006)

I would let my child take a London black cab if it was a true emergency because they are licensed, vetted, etc.. but I would still be pretty nervous about it. I certainly wouldn't flag down or call a minicab (which here means it could be any Joe off the street playing taxi driver).


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## thismama (Mar 3, 2004)

I voted maybe in a true emergency... like uh, if I sent her to school and then was in labour and couldn't pick her up, say. I would request a woman driver.


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## muttix2 (Apr 24, 2005)

If there was some I-can't-even-think-of-something-that-extreme reason to do so, I would. But I'd call the cab company, explain the situation, tell the driver what is going on, have someone meet them at the other end, and I'd send a phone with my child with my number on speed dial 1 and the police on speed dial 2. I'd take down everything about the driver and his cab, numbers, looks, etc. and get an estimated time of arrival. In fact, I'd probably at least call my child a few times or something as I wouldn't trust the driver. Hope I'm never in that situation where I'd need to do that.


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## nicole lisa (Oct 27, 2004)

I would. DS is really comfortable with cabs as am I and BF. I took cabs as a child quite a bit.

Maybe it's different where some of the other posters on the site live but I have a hard time with using the term scuzzy to describe cab drivers. Cab driving is a job just like any other; drivers are providing a service in exchange for a money just like any other profession. In my city the vast majority of cab drivers are from the Middle East and India and Pakistan and they, like most adult job holders, are working to provide for their families. And working hard in a job which grants no respect despite most of the drivers I've had knowing way more languages than their average passenger and having seen more of the world than them too. There's nothing inherently scuzzy about a cab driver. In all the years I've been taking cabs I have never had an experience which put me ill at ease and I take them quite regularly. The biggest danger with cabs is to the driver and not the rider; cabbies are a high risk group when it comes to being assaulted. Riders are not.


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## dubfam (Nov 4, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *nicole lisa* 
I would. DS is really comfortable with cabs as am I and BF. I took cabs as a child quite a bit.

Maybe it's different where some of the other posters on the site live but I have a hard time with using the term scuzzy to describe cab drivers. Cab driving is a job just like any other; drivers are providing a service in exchange for a money just like any other profession. In my city the vast majority of cab drivers are from the Middle East and India and Pakistan and they, like most adult job holders, are working to provide for their families. And working hard in a job which grants no respect despite most of the drivers I've had knowing way more languages than their average passenger and having seen more of the world than them too. There's nothing inherently scuzzy about a cab driver. In all the years I've been taking cabs I have never had an experience which put me ill at ease and I take them quite regularly. *The biggest danger with cabs is to the driver and not the rider; cabbies are a high risk group when it comes to being assaulted. Riders are not.*

You are in danger as the rider, but ITA that the driver is at the most risk.

I am sure every city is different, but here in Portland they don;t do background screening, other than driving record, on any of the drivers. There are some really cool cabbies here, and then there are some very, ummm, unsavory cabbies here.

I think it would be really easy for a cab driver to kidnap a fare (adult or child), if they were that type of person. You are putting a lot of trust in a COMPLETE stranger when you get into a Taxi...I try not to ride alone if I am coming home at night and have been drinking or something. I would feel safe riding alone in the daytime/sober. I would never send my kid alone on the spur of the moment. Maybe in a prearranged situation if the driver had been screened and had been working with the company for a while.


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