is a child under 3 a passenger or baggage - UK

[Unregistered]

I am a driver of a Taxi and I have been looking into a question that one of the other drivers come up with,

A child under 3yrs does not need to have a seatbelt on or a child restraint fitted in the back of my car as per UK law.

My car has a capacity of 4 passengers and a driver its a ford mondeo.

The question is " does the child under 3 count as a passenger as it is not taking up a seat if sat on the parents lap"

I have looked for ages for this answer, any help appreciated

jason@kauder.co.u

[snowbird25ca]

Legal doesn't always equal safe, and in some senses I think common sense needs to over-rule things too... I'm not sure if the question is because of wanting to be able to fit another person in to the taxi or not, but a person is a person regardless of age.

I'd suggest contacting your licensing board to find out the technical answer, and in the meantime since the child under 3 is a person and people are generally classified as passengers, I'd count any breathing person as a passenger whether or not he/she is occupying a seatbelt.