Bike-buggy-smuggy-mummies: they think they're invincible!

[Vagabond]

You know those little carriages on the back/front of bikes with little children cocooned inside? What are these mums thinking of? It looks like they've got a litter of kittens inside sometimes!

The way they ride their kids around town in these bicycle people carriers seems so dangerous to me. I pass at least a dozen of them a day and I'm astounded by the sense of entitlement these mums feel above the overwhelming enormity of actual traffic. They seem invincible when, actually, they are putting themselves and their kids in enormous danger.

I drive so carefully around them but it irritates me to see the smug look on their faces. I'm equally sure that they hate my smug face driving my car. It's soooo Oxford and it irritates the hell out of me!

Yes, it's green. I get that. It still gets on my nerves.

funny dickie, I've done a search and can't find a single report of death by bike trailer. I can find lots of people whining about how dangerous they must be, yet no info at all on actual fatalities. Funny that.

Lots of kids die in car accidents though, shouldn't you rethink putting your kids in your car?

Ooooh - can anyone link me to one of those litter-carrying bike thingies.

I am envious.

I can't say I have a problem with them hogging the road or having any sense of entitlement exactly, but I do think they are completely off their heads to put such tiny children in a such flimsy little carriages, down low, not terribly visible to car drivers, getting facefuls of rush hour exhaust fumes, and having buses and juggernauts whizzing inches from their heads every time they go anywhere. Green? Maybe. Misguided and risky? Definitely.

Yawn. They aren't flimsy. They are visible. No exhaust fumes as they have a double layer cover. And juggernauts? Bike trailers don't tend to be on the motorway.

Before you call people misguided and risky, check your facts. What risk? Please tell me how many children are injured or killed on trailers. You can't? well shut up about risk then!

One of the reasons I hate driving in Oxford. Despite the overwhelming amount of bicycle lanes (which I have no problem with, used to ride all the time myself) Oxford Cyclists seem to think they can ride anywhere, ignore any road rules and common sense. Two abreast waving around the road seems to be the favoured mode

WOODT I am saying that I would not put little people in a tent on wheels a foot off the road surrounded by anything from a car to a van to a bloody great big bus whizzing past.
All it will take is one vehicle to make a mistake.
I'm not saying don't use them. I'm saying don't use them on busy main roads where your children are vulnerable.

and I'm saying you clearly don't know enough about the subject to be able to assess the risk, unlike someone who has researched, bought and used one.

And its my business where, when and how I transport my children, and not yours. As it happens, I don't use particularly "busy main roads" though that term means different things in different places. But thats my choice and I dont need whiny car drivers pleading blindness to tell me that.

You're just in a tin can in wheels, only takes one truck to make a mistake and you're kids are dead. Bet you don't like hearing that though.

The ones I pass on my way to school are on a busy main road with buses coaches and the odd lorry.

I personally find there is a visibilty issue as a driver.

They certainly are flimsy, when compared to being in a baby car seat, in a car.

Double layer schmayer. Their little faces are practically level with exhaust pipes. Only electric windows would suffice.

And as all cyclists know, there is always an element of risk of being crushed by large vehicles, especially at junctions turning right (they spend enough time banging on about it, so I assume it's a very real problem) I personally wouldn't risk cycling in heavy town traffic for myself, never mind for my small child.

If the risk to cyclists from cars is generally quite high, compared to the risk to pedestrians or other car drivers, then it follows that the risks to small children attached to cyclists is also quite high.

You are absolutely right about car accidents. What's the biggest cause of car accidents? Other cars. The same cars that are sharing the road with your tent full of kids.
As for two layers stopping exhaust fumes - that's actually laughable.
I suspect your aggressive stance on this will change once the first fatality is reported, which is inevitable if people don't use them responsibly.
Your aggressive defensiveness is very telling indeed.

I don't think I'll waste any more words that are clearly falling on deaf ears.

Vagabond regardless of what you think cyclists have a right to use the road by law, so your rant about 'their sense of entitlement' is misplaced. If you loose your sleep about it on a regular basis, why not take yourself to a therapist to learn some self-control techniques? Btw, i am not a cyclist.

So where are the news reports of the injuries and deaths from these incredibly dangerous contraptions?

My children, my risks. Never ceases to amaze me how people love a bit of self-indulgent handwringing about the safety and comfort of other peoples children. How about you concentrate a little more on seeing the brightly colored flag-adorned reflective large trailer in the daytime, and not hitting it, and a little less on the won't anyone think of the children act?

BTW, do you have electric windows around your kids faces when they are walking anywhere? Their poor little faces near all those nasty exhaust fumes. And so close to traffic, a van might not see them and mount the pavement and run them over. There are actually frequent news reports of that, unlike with bike trailers.

The only issue I ever have with cyclists is that some of them (by no means all, or even many) ride dangerously on pavements when there's a lot of people about. 10 years ago, my then two-month old dd was almost thrown out of her pram by a teenager on a bike crashing into the pram. I let rip . I now see that same teenager (now a man) riding very carefully around town. He learned a lesson!

But then, there's always a minority in any activity giving others a bad reputation. I can see the trailers when in my car, and I would have a bike for commuting if it weren't for the fact I do a round trip of 60 milers to get to/from work. Actually I could do with a bike for getting fit.....

Exhaust fumes. Because the air inside the car comes through the car radiator it is filled with exhuast fumes -- more, in fact, than the air that a cyclist or child in a cycle trailer would breathe, because the fumes don't escape the car very easily. Pedestrians and cyclists actually inhale less exhaust than drivers.

I've cycled on really busy roads with my children and the closest I or they have ever come to death is when a car driver stopped me as I was turning right into traffic to shout at me because my child wasn't wearing a cycle helmet. In the middle of a busy road, at rush hour.

I had to drag them back from being crushed by a bus that didn't stop at a pelican crossing once. A friend of mine's child was knocked over by a car going through a red light at a pelican crossing and only survived by a miracle. Who causes these accidents? It's the hulking great lumps of metal powered by the internal combustion engine.

Personally I'd rather see more people cycling/walking and fewer people just driving to school or work when they don't really need to use the car.

"Who causes these accidents? It's the hulking great lumps of metal powered by the internal combustion engine."

Absolutely not. Morons who cannot observe the surroundings and press relevant pedals simultaneously. The degree of damage they inflict is proportionate to the amount of "metal" they are driving.

YABU.

Because cars have the absolute right ?! Oh dear !

Ditto; smug cause our butts are perter !

"Absolutely not. Morons " -- you are right Bemybebe. I did mean it's the people who are driving the hulking great lumps of metal who cause the accidents.

We have, baby bobike seat, co pilot toddler seat, double trailer and seat on pannier plus about 12 bikes in our family.... oh and a car !

Predjudice !

i guessed so

Anyone who puts their kids' heads at bumper height of cars on a road is a dick.

Doesn't matter whose fault it would be if your kids get injured - YOUR KIDS WILL STILL BE INJURED/DEAD!

FOOLS.

TURDASS Are all people who take their kids walking on pavements, skiing, flying on planes or have home electrical appliances etc also dicks? Super logic!

Oh, I thought you were calling someone a 'turdass' for disagreeing with you. But I realise there's a poster actually called that.

no, but I might start now!

It's about balancing risks. No one needs top put their child in one of those death chariots so why would you do it?