Do we need a car in Hong Kong?

We are expecting our first baby, and up until now have never needed a car in Hong Kong. We live in Pokfulam, and can easily get taxis, minibuses, MTR etc (though mostly taxis) anywhere we need to go. We are currently debating whether we in fact need to buy a car for when the baby comes - all our friends with children seem to think it is necessary. Why is this? Is it a safety issue? What could we use in taxis to keep our little one safe i.e. any recommendations of carseats for taxis that would work for newborns upwards? Is it a convenience issue i.e. taking the stroller in and out of cabs? It seems to me that buying and running a car is a very expensive thing to do, but we are not opposed to it at all if we decide it is necessary for transporting a baby here in HK. Any thoughts/suggestions are most welcome.

Miffy, I think the problem with taxis is that they never give you long enough to plug the baby carseat in properly (sometimes the seatbelt doesn't even fit) and if you are travelling by yourself it can be a bit tricky as to what order to put pram in boot (assuming taxi driver does not help...and likely even if he does you would have to fold it) or baby in car seat. Not such a safe excerice if you are on a busy road.


As far as safety goes, if you can work the above out, travelling with e new born is probably the easier time - you can use a baby car seat capsule that straps into the stroller. It become less safe when they outgro the baby capsule and should really be in a toddler car seat which is very bulky to carry around - although I have seen ones that have wheels on them and they convert into a little pram.


Perhaps get the baby carseat / capsule and see how you go with taxis. I think if you have two young ones close together and get around a bit on your own is when the car becomes the safer & easier albeit more expensive option.

We did not have a car for so many years & quite honestly did not despair. HK transport is very convenient however, we got a car 3 yrs ago when our daughter was an infant & that was the best decision we made. Everything just became much more convenient & easier. Now we could never be without a car. Yes, we are spoilt now & really love it!

I agree with Sandpiper, it is cumbersome but mostly manageable to travel with an infant in a bucket in a taxi. I had a Kohlcraft Universal Car Seat Carrier, basically a buggy frame that the bucket strapped into--the same idea of the Quinny/Maxi Cosi combo out now. It worked mostly because I made it work and I learned enough canonese words to ask the driver to "slow down" (mine seemed to get carsick whipping around the curves on the Southside) and to "wait" until I'd gotten her strapped in. And I got out of plenty of cabs that didn't have a center seat belt. Then from a year to about 18-20 months we did the babybjorn method and after that the Joeysafe seatbelt harness. But I started wanting her in a proper carseat and we finally bought a great reliable car from friends who were leaving HK. I've been glad to have her in a carseat now. Should we have gotten the car earlier? I don't know, I was a real stickler for having her travel safely up until we had a car so I think we were being responsible parents. Not that the adult seatbelted with the child in the babybjorn is entirely safe, but it beats toddler loose in adults arms, which is often seen around here.

Some-one told me once that if you use the Baby Bjorn you need to put the seat belt between you and the baby - otherwise in the event of an accident the baby would be squashed by your force against the seatbelt. I do not know if they have used crash test dummies to test this (I think they should if they have not)but it did make sense so is what I did, but once again it is a bit of a faff, especially in a moving taxi.

I don't necessarily think a car is a big deal in HK because of the tranport network.

When i used to travel in taxi's with my kids in B Bjorns, i would put the lap belt round me so as the baby wasn't pressed to me, hence not squashing it in an accident (i believe a test of som sort has been carried out about children being belted to a n adult and not a nice outcome).

I am now about to get a car BUT only becuase my two have both started school and are now doing various classes here, there and everywhere and public transport doesn't help.

I do not want to talk doom and gloom but the Baby Bjorn is NOT safe in the case of an accident!!! The seatbelt between you and the baby works when you hit a bump on the road or brake quickly, but on impact, your weight will be increased by multiples by the force of the crash. Even if the seatbelt is run between you and the baby, you will be forced onto him/her at the equivalent weight of a baby elephant. The baby will not stand a chance and will certainly be crushed to death (and that is at only 30mph).


Car wise, you do not need a big car, but it certainly made our lives easier (especially when your baby no longer fits into the capsule). An additional benefit is that we get to explore parts of the NT etc. that many of our taxi-friends have never visited.