"Peter R." wrote in message

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.

You know, I'm fairly certain we all grew up just fine without kiddie car
seats, (and bike helmets, and...) so it's not like it's terribly unsafe. At
least, it's no more unsafe for your child than it was ten years ago before
car seats were ubiqitous. In fact it could be argued that the vehicles
themselves are inherently safer than they were when we were standing in the
middle of the bench seat of dad's old pickup so we could see over the
dashboard.

Remember those days?

When I rode in Nine-O-Nine with my grandfather, which was the first time
he'd flown in one since crashing on 14 Oct 1943, I had to show HIM how to
attach the seatbelts. "We never had these damned things," he said.

-c