Uber Introduces Car Seat Feature for Kids

Starting today, travelers with kids can now opt for rides with safety seats for children. This is following the introduction of Uber Vehicle Seat.

The service is new in Uber Singapore although it has been available overseas including other similar services.

Uber said that during its pilot phase, 100 Uber vehicles with the car-seat feature will be available on Singapore’s roads.

This move comes just 5 months after The New Paper highlighted a report on laws concerning child safety in private cars for hire.

According to the Act on Road Traffic, private-hire vehicles are not allowed to carry commuters who are below 1.35m in height without a child restraint or booster seat.

Grab, another ride-hailing company, launched their own GrabFamily option in March. This option is accessible through their app which now allows commuters to order for vehicles that have booster seats which is suitable for children at the age of 4 – 7. This option costs an added $2 for every trip.

Uber vehicles with the feature will have a car seat from IMMI Go. These seats are suitable for kids who are 12 months old and above and below 1.45m in height.

The ride is going cost you an extra $5 compared to the normal UberX trips.

Uber drivers will install the seat using Isofix fasteners that already exist in a majority of cars. The drivers can fold the seats and keep them in the boot when they’re unoccupied.

Uber Singapore’s general manager, Warren Tseng, had this to say “We chose to introduce the precise product together with the perfect partner as this would give us a broader coverage with children with a bigger age range.”

The Uber Car Seat feature was born from a partnership between Taxi Baby and Uber Singapore. Uber Vehicle Seat drivers will acquire a certification from Taxi Baby after they receive training.

Antaeus Lim, a 30-y/o Uber driver had this to say, “I was able to buy an IMMI Go vehicle seat and also receive a certification by only paying a reduced fee $99 in form of 4 installments.” The retail price for the seat on Taxi Baby online site is $440.

Mr. Lim continued “It’s common for families who have young kids to book the private-hire vehicles. I found the training really efficient since it’s a valuable upgrade especially with law enforcement being very strict about it.”

Uber Singapore’s GM has also said that a few hundreds of these vehicles will be available on their platform over the coming few months. Mr. Tseng continued to add “as we continue to comprehend the usage patterns, demand and the supply of Uber Car Seat vehicles, we will continuously add more drivers and more of these seats to our platform.”

Meanwhile, since it launched in March, Grab has announced that it has tripled its GrabFamily convoy of cars to over 3,000.

The two firms are looking into making 2 or more child safety seats available in their vehicles while Grab also is currently looking into solutions available for kids aged below 4 on its vehicles with the GrabFamily feature.

Source: http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/uber-launches-car-seat-service-kids