J. Hansen ) wrote:

I am planning a trip including my five year old son to Niagara falls
next weekend.

I faced this exact dilemma two weeks ago with my soon-to-be-five year old
and a six year old. The four of us (wife included) flew to Niagara Falls
for the day and I also wondered about the need for a car seat for the ten
minute ride from the airport to the Falls tourist area.

After talking with a State Trooper friend, I learned that car seats are not
required once the child is over 40 pounds and four years old in NY state,
so legally there was no issue.

So, the decision came down to an issue of safety. In the end, we decided
that as long as the boys were buckled up in the taxi with lap belts and
shoulder straps and they were placed on the left and right side of the back
seats (no center seating for them), they would be relatively safe.

Note that in our case, the taxi took the highway for a portion of the ride
from the airport to the Falls area, although I suppose you could request a
route through the residential area (which is what our driver did for the
return trip).

Since we wanted to see the Canadian side, we cabbed it right to Rainbow
Bridge, then walked over the bridge to the Canadian side. Otherwise the
cab ride would have been much more expensive and, given the traffic at
customs, just as long as the ten minute walk. On the other side we
flagged a Canadian cab to to the falls overlook.

Just be aware that the pedestrian portion of Rainbow bridge has only a four
foot high railing to keep one from tumbling to the river below, so we kept
our children close.

--
Peter