Safety Equipment every taxi should have
No matter how safe we feel in a vehicle, the reality is that driving is dangerous. Something handing over your safety to someone else could be scarier, like in case you are traveling in a taxi.
Taxi drivers have the responsibility to guarantee the safety of their passengers and themselves. To achieve safety in a taxi, several different steps are taken, including choosing a safe vehicle.
Some security elements contribute to reducing the consequences when the loss is unavoidable. Some of them are a must-have in every taxi and are listed down below.
Seat Belt: Under European Union law, all vehicle occupants, including taxi passengers, must wear seat belts. All taxis must be equipped with seat belts and optimal for use and not hidden behind the seats.
Airbag: They are a complementary retention system. In the event of a collision or severe vehicle collision, the airbag unfolds and inflates automatically. In this way, it avoids the severity of the blows from the vehicle parts to the occupant's body inside the vehicle.
Vehicles must have two front airbags. Typically one is located in the central core of the steering wheel and the other on the dashboard above the glove compartment.
There are also other rarer airbags of some models and are deployed between the occupants of the two front seats to avoid the impact of one against the other and others that come out of the belts to support impact.
If a child's seat is placed in areas where the airbags are located, it is necessary to deactivate them.
Headrest: These are located on the back of the seat. It reduces the injuries that could be caused due to the movement of the neck during an accident (whip effect). There are some, such as removable head restraints, that have yet another secondary function. If necessary, these can be used to break the side windows of the vehicle.
The correct way to place them is:
The edge of the headrest should be between the upper limit of the head and the height of the eyes.
The separation between the head and the headrest must be the minimum and never greater than 4 cm.
Window Glass Construction: The windows and glass of the vehicle isolate the occupants from the outside. They avoid crushing in a rollover. In addition, they are made so that when breaking, they cause the least possible damage to travelers, since it does not shatter. It only remains cracked or cracked so that it cannot project towards the occupants.
It is also required that all vehicles mount laminated glass on the windshield and tempered glass on the rest of the windows. Also, the steering columns of vehicles should be capable of bending in an accident. For this, the parts that make up the steering must redirect the force of the impact and prevent the driver's abdomen, chest, or head from hitting the steering wheel in the event of a frontal collision.
So the next time you take a taxi for the airport, make sure to quiz your driver on these features.
