as128

Hi. My family will be in Israel for 10 days in August. I will have 3 kids: a 4 year old, a 2.5 year old, and a 0.5 year old. We are deciding whether to bring our own car safety seats for the kids, or to borrow/rent in Israel. We'll be travelling almost exclusively in a tour bus.

What is the law in Israel regarding kids in car safety seats:
In a private car
In a car service
In a taxi
On a sheyrut
On a bus

In other words, do we need a car safety seat for our kids on the tour bus? In a taxi? Etc.

Thanks!
Adam

W9London

To be honest, with the typical Israeli driving style and also as it seems like you'll be spending quite a lot of time on the road, I would feel more comfortable securing car seats for all of your kids. It's another story if you have to bring your own or can rent one. This, I cannot answer your question. Why not check with the tour bus company?

I may be a minority opinion here, but I would use extension seatbelts (for the older 2), and a bassinet (for the youngest) during the flights. The only caveat is, airlines cannot guarantee you'll get a bassinet.

I haven't seen anyone using car seats on a bus nor a private taxi (the ones you hail on the street).

More fundamentally, I'm not a big fan of bringing young children to organised coach tours. What would you do if your children need to get off the bus, for example for car sickness etc (G-d forbid)? With our 2 young children, we prefer to rent a car, and book booster/car seats with the car.

Whatever you do, make sure you carry more than enough liquid with you--it gets quite hot in August!

sandy_b

If you do decide to rent, make sure you ask plenty of questions about the quality of the carseat.

When we went to Spain, the auto rental place said they would rent us a carseat but when we arrived, they had only one, piece-o-crap seat, just a hard piece of molded plastic with a cotton, non-padded cover. On top of that, it was missing some straps.

We were less than thrilled . . .

Good luck,
Sandy (in Denton)

W9London

Sandy,

"just a hard piece of molded plastic with a cotton, non-padded cover"--this sounds exactly like the standard booster seat we have for slightly older kids (3.5 or 4yo+).

There is a difference between a babyseat (and within this, a forward facing and a rear-facing subcategories) and a childseat.

sandy_b

We told the rental place how old the child was (13 mos) and that he could be in a front-facing seat but we did expect it to be comfortable and to have all the straps.

The booster seat he now has (he is 4) is nicely padded, not just a hard piece of plastic.

Maybe seats are different in different countries . . . we just expected a better seat for him.

Sandy (in Denton)

Eli

Adam, here is my humble attempt at translating the "child in car" Israeli law.
- these regulations do not apply to bus, taxi, or motorcycle (meaning that your 3 children may ride a motocycle unstapped...)
- ages 0-3: must be strapped in a baby/child safety seat. Seat must be placed in a back seat.
- age 0-1: seat must be facing backward.
ages 3-8: safety seat or booster is mandatory. May sit in a front seat (i.e. next to driver).
- safety seat may not be facing airbag location.

That's about it. What I understand about taxis or busses is that the law maker was more concerned about private cars, and it's probably the parent's free decision what to do in a bus.

I never heard of safety seat rental places in Israel. You'd probably be better off with your own (higher quality?) seats.

I read in some travel forum that travelling with children is like travelling with excess luggage. You are going to bring this statement to new heights... (Just kidding, wishing you a great time!)

W9London

We usually rent a car from Eldan, and request car seats when we make a reservation. We never had any problems--aside from the usual clerks not knowing how to attach them properly...