AIBU to ask if bicycle towing a child carrier looks unbelievably unsafe?

[longwayoff]

I don't spend much time in traffic but noticed one of these the other day which made me feel a bit concerned. Today, the Mail has video of someone crossing 3 lanes of traffic with one attached. They look dangerous on so many levels. How can they be legal?

[HoneysuckIejasmine]

They are fine. Personally I wouldn't use one in busy traffic but I wouldn't cycle in busy traffic either.

But that's because of car drivers etc not paying attention, not because they are inherently unsafe.

[StrongTea]

Scary, no protection at all. Okay maybe, in parks or on cycle paths.

[DustyMaiden]

I think they are absolutely ridiculous. The D.C. are so vulnerable. They really are unbelievably dangerous.

[legalseagull]

I once saw one of these overturned on the road which was blocked off my a police car. The cyclist was crying and a tiny tinfoil blanket had been put over something not far away. Thank god it was a dog! I'll never forget that or ever use one of these things with a child. Turns out he had clipped a curb causing it to flip in to traffic.

[BackInTime]

I have seen parents towing kids around busy towns and going around roundabouts. Why anyone would think it's ok to have your small child inches from the ground at the same level as car, bus and lorry wheels is beyond me.

[Alison100199]

They are awful, more so the ones where the children are in a big carrier at the front. Where I live the yummy mummies riding them stop at a junction as if they were on a normal bike but this means the children stick out into the road. I stopped once to tell a woman this and she told me to fuck off. Unbelievably dangerous and I'm a cyclist myself so very much support people getting on their bikes.

[Barbarafromblackpool]

I see a few and I think they're bonkers. I do wish cycling was safer though.

[Ohtherewearethen]

I can't believe they are allowed! Especially with bigger/higher cars now, if wouldn't be impossible to not see one of this carts on the back of a bike and i can't bear to think about what could happen. I shudder when I see them on busy roads. You wouldn't let your children walk on the roads so why put them in one of those things?

[QueenofmyPrinces]

I can’t believe anyone would take such a risk with their child’s life to be honest.

[anotherchangeyname]

I think they look scary, but my main problem with them is that the car fumed at that level must be extremely high.

[HotpotLawyer]

We used one at CenterParcs. It was great.
No way would I use one in traffic.
Precisely because if the behaviour of other road users. And the fact that lorries can’t actually see what is around them.

[drspouse]

I live in a town with a lot of cyclists and see a lot of people using them, but not on main roads. They are fine on cycle paths etc.

[BarkandCheese]

I often wonder, when the child car seat rules are quite strict, how both these and children on the back of bikes are road legal.

[Grumpasaurous]

I cringe every time see one.

So so so unsafe.

You can see the cyclist, but not the carrier.

[PrawnOfCreation]

because of car drivers etc not paying attention, not because they are inherently unsafe

They're unsafe. Just because it's the driver's fault, not the cyclist or the manufacturer doesn't mean anything to the child in the back.

[IceRebel]

You can see the cyclist, but not the carrier.

This is always my worry, no matter how vigilant you are as a car / van / lorry driver. You just can't see them, as they are so low down.

[DocusDiplo]

Better to build safe cycle lanes than remove individuals off the road.

I've cycled with the babyseat at the back... free healthy cheap and fun for the kid.

Not sure about the trailer... I don't know... i am not strong enough... if it was all hi-vis i probably would.

[anniehm]

There's quite a few here, not sure why people don't use the shared use pavements though, all ours on main roads are marked as ok to cycle on.

[CarpetGate]

Calm down!

[Sparklyboots]

They are massively unsafe in regard to the levels of pollution they expose kids to. They are getting a full dose of heavy particulates as well as noxious car fumes. There is no way I would use one on roads with my kids even if they weren't completely untested for collision and road safety and exactly the right height to decapitate anyone riding in them in collision with a car.

[Ariela]

There's a couple of ladies use them on the school run from a nearby village, there's a wide cycle route all the way apart from the estate road and the final stretch to the school so think perfectly safe for what they're using it for.

[GoGoGadgetGin]

They terrify me, have also seen cyclists cut across lanes with these, l'm in a low car so can see them, but when lorries can struggle to see some of these tiny smart cars the thought of what could happen is awful

[MuseumofInnocence]

It is a shame, because they are used so commonly in the Netherlands, but there, they have much better infrastructure, and drivers are more bicycle aware.

[Birdsgottafly]

"They're unsafe. Just because it's the driver's fault, not the cyclist or the manufacturer doesn't mean anything to the child in the back."

By the same logic , so it cycling, then.

I would never use one in traffic. There's just been another cyclist, killed, locally. She had cycled professionally and the driver has been charged. Her cyclist companion, is seriously injured.

Some drivers hate cyclists, to the point that they'll think nothing of injuring them and many wouldn't hold back because there's children with them.

[megletthesecond]

They terrify me.
They'd be nice on cycle paths but not near a ton of speeding metal.