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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think no sensible parent would do this?

58 replies

iMemoo · 22/06/2011 11:02

A boy from Ds's class at school is picked up by his dad and taken home on the back of a motorbike!! He wears a helmet but then just his school shirt and shorts. If he did come off while they were travelling at speed the poor child would have his skin ripped to shreds.

Aibu to think this is absolute madness? Who let's their 9 year old ride on the back of a motorbike!?

OP posts:
EcoLady · 22/06/2011 11:04

I used to go on the back of my stepfather's motorbike when I was that age. I was always dressed properly though.

Original poster
iMemoo · 22/06/2011 11:05

This child has bare arms and legs.

OP posts:
CogitoErgoSometimes · 22/06/2011 11:05

If he came off when travelling at speed, ripped skin would be the least of his worries. Helmet obligatory but to make a little kid get into full protective gear just for a 2 minute ride home from school might be a little excessive....

Original poster
iMemoo · 22/06/2011 11:05

Is it even legal?

OP posts:
LadyThumb · 22/06/2011 11:07

If you are in UK YANBU because wearing short and shirt he would get soaking wet on the back of a motorbike in our current weather!!

It is legal to be a pillion passenger once your feet can reach the footrest, but agree he needs proper safety gear.

AmazingBouncingFerret · 22/06/2011 11:07

My Dad used to pick me up from school at that age on the back of his motorbike. I had a helmet and a leather jacket. But my legs were only covered with my school trousers.
He never went ridiculously fast though, no big roads and speedbumps all the way, couldnt of been much fun for him but I used to insist on it! Grin

orangehead · 22/06/2011 11:08

There is one at our school that goes home on back of motorbik but he in reception. Again short sleeved top.

CogitoErgoSometimes · 22/06/2011 11:08

I'm pretty sure it's only the helment that's required. Protective clothing like leathers, waterproofs, gloves, boots etc. are recommended but long sleeves or long trousers aren't much use if you hit the tarmac.

AmazingBouncingFerret · 22/06/2011 11:10

When he picked me up in this it was mildly safer but some spiteful bastard set fire to it on our driveway... Sad

Original poster
iMemoo · 22/06/2011 11:10

I think it's absolute madness! Even if dad drives carefully if they are hit by another car there is nothing to protect him.

OP posts:
wannaBe · 22/06/2011 11:11

it's unlikely they'll be going at high speed from school to home though. as long as he's wearing a helmet I see no problem with it. Think it'd be awesome actually.

Original poster
iMemoo · 22/06/2011 11:11

Shock bouncingferret, some people are just deranged.

OP posts:
feckwit · 22/06/2011 11:13

I know a child picked up on a motorbike too, he does wear a leather jacket though and puts long trousers on a the end of the day. All travel involves risk.

Bast · 22/06/2011 11:14

Having seen road rash happen, I can safely say it can occur at very little speed at all. An ex had a scar the full length of his thigh from a summertime fall.

For those that have queried the necessity of protective gear for a two minute ride home - I was hit by another driver after the school run, within metres of my home. My van was written off. A biker would have been lucky to survive, if at all and a pillion child? I don't dare to think.

I can't believe there are so many laws and regulations WRT carseats and seating for children in cars yet none for children on bikes? There must be? If not, it is sheer madness.

IMO!

AmazingBouncingFerret · 22/06/2011 11:14

I can still remember the horn tooting away and getting fainter and fainter like it was dying... Can't belive I can get emotional about a car but I did love that one. Blush

snailoon · 22/06/2011 11:16

I agree with you; motorbikes are horribly dangerous.

In Italy I have seen people with two kids on a motorbike (one baby in arms), no helmets. It seems fine in Italy.
No one in Holland wears a bike helmet, and cyclists are everywhere, often carrying 2 or 3 children and a cello or something.
Here it is shocking to drive an 8 year old half a mile without a car seat.

I get irritated by people's overly goody goody approach to safety when out and about with kids. I have had people reprimand me for letting my daughter bike to school on a quiet country road with me. These same people don't seem to realise how dangerous it is to spend endless hours staring at a screen never seeing the light of day.
I guess we all think we have found something safe and healthy for our kids and that other people are deluding themselves.

But I agree with you about the motorbike.

wannaBe · 22/06/2011 11:19

cars are horribly dangerous too. it could be argued that it's as dangerous to walk home as it is to go on a motorbike.

TheRhubarb · 22/06/2011 11:20

There is a dad at our school who does this too. Do they make protective bike gear for kids? I wouldn't do it but it's not illegal so what can you do?

I also hate those covered trailers fastened to the back of bicycles that often have a toddler in them. All it takes is for one road user to do something silly and the poor child doesn't stand a chance. I'm sorry but no matter how safe you are as a cyclist or biker, you cannot trust other road users and I would never put my children in such a vulnerable position when there are so many dickheads out there driving.

Another warning for 4x4 drivers too - they often can't see the bicycle trailers and have no idea how close they are getting to them.

Original poster
iMemoo · 22/06/2011 11:21

I get it bouncingferret. I had to sell my little chevy a while back and I could cry everytime I think of it, I miss my car.

I know accidents can happen in a car but then you have an awful lot of protection to keep you safe. You're so vulnerable on the back of a bike.

OP posts:
Bast · 22/06/2011 11:23

Had I been on foot that day, WB, I would have been on the path, so safer. Presumably ...it was a cold day and the other driver hadn't even cleared her windscreen before driving off!

Yes, accidents happen. I know my family and I were safer in our van than on a bike and possibly on foot, particularly given I was 34 weeks pregnant at the time!

libelulle · 22/06/2011 11:24

I used to love going on my dad's motorbike as a child. I wore a helmet obviously but no other protective gear.

Hell would freeze over before I'd let my kids do the same Grin I am sad for them though too - some of my happiest childhood memories are of doing what by today's standards would be derangedly dangerous activities but that no-one batted an eyelid at 30 years ago...

Morloth · 22/06/2011 11:27

LOL, never go to Asia.

I have seen entire families and the dog all loaded up onto the moped.

mollymole · 22/06/2011 11:27

the only LEGAL part is the wearing of a helmet, however, as a long time motorcyclist i always wear long trousers, protective jacket, gloves etc. and yes they do make protective clothing in kids sizes - at the very least the child should be wearing clothing that covers the arms and legs -
it hurts like hell does 'gravel rash' and picking the tiny stones and bits out of red raw skin is truly awful so YANBU

MrsBethel · 22/06/2011 11:29

YANBU.

It's a bit like that "hit me at 30 and there's an 80% chance I'll live" advert, but with much worse odds.

Even the slightest mishap and that kid could be killed or unbelievably badly maimed.

Original poster
iMemoo · 22/06/2011 11:39

Lol morloth!

OP posts: