Grab Malaysia has introduced a trial service named Kid-Friendly Rides. This feature aims to provide child car seats for e-hailing passengers travelling with young children.
The introduction of Kid Friendly Ride is a part of Grab’s wider safety ecosystem, which includes features such as AudioProtect and Women-Only Rides. It is through these initiatives that Grab continues to strengthen safety across its platform, with the aim to make end-to-end safety more accessible for every user.
Grab driver-partners enrolled in the beta programme will receive guidance on proper installation, maintenance, and handling of the child seats to ensure correct setup prior to pick-up.
Integrated Child Safety Seats
Under the new option, vehicles assigned to Kid-Friendly Rides are equipped with certified child restraint systems or booster seats. This is useful for parents with infants or toddlers because it ensures greater safety and removes the need for parents to carry their own bulky car seats when booking a ride-hailing service.
“Families should be able to travel with their children with greater peace of mind, without managing the hassle of carrying heavy and cumbersome child seats.” – Rashid Shukor, Executive Director, Grab Malaysia.
Child Restraint System has been mandatory since January 2020
MIROS (Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research) states it is important to raise awareness on the importance of child car seats safety in Malaysia. Associate Professor Ir. Ts. Dr. Siti Zaharah Binti Ishak, Director-General, MIROS says booster seats reduce injury risk by 45% for children aged four to eight compared with seat belts alone.
Child Restraint System (CRS) has been mandatory in Malaysia since 1 January 2020. However, the awareness on this law and its implementation is still low. This is a worrying trend because the CRS is meant to protect your children from severe injuries in the case of road crashes or accidents.
In addition, the Ministry of Transport Malaysia (MoTM) says the CRS used in Malaysia must comply to UNR standard (R44 or R129) and children must weigh less than 36 kg, or with a height less than 136 cm, or aged below 12 years old. Since Grab Malaysia’s CRS complies with the law, this will remove the hassle of finding a legally safe or compliant child car seat for parents.
You can only access this feature via Advance Booking for now
At the moment, this feature is only available via Advance Booking for airport rides (to and from KLIA 1/KLIA 2). According to Grab, the rollout will continue in phases across the wider Klang Valley, and subsequently across Penang and Johor Bahru.
You can access Kid-Friendly Rides (Beta) through the Grab app by tapping “Car” and clicking the ‘Advance Booking’ tile. Then, you can schedule the preferred pick-up time. After entering the pickup or drop off location to or from the airport, you can select this feature under Standard 6-Seater or Grab EV Exec.
A booster seat will cost additional fees
On Standard 6-Seater rides, you are entitled to one booster seat for a RM10 add-on fee for each booking. This seat could accommodate children aged four to 12.
Meanwhile, the Koopers Boost Fix booster seats are offered on Grab EV Exec rides as a free value-added feature.
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