AIBU & WWYD DH & DD1 motorbike trip....

[Babylon1]

DH and dd1 (7yo) are planning to go off to top of Scotland on DHs motorbike for approx a week in July.

I'm shit scared something bad will happen while they are away, and the last few nights it's played on my mind :(

DH says I'm bring daft and they'll be fine. He is a safe rider, but it's other road users that bother me.

DD has been on bike before, she has ALL the necessary safety wear and is comfortable on the bike. They will be doing a mixture of camping/travel inn and b&b.

Do I let her go? I will be at home with small DCs during this trip.

rainbowsprite1 oh how I'm jealous. OH and I are desperate come to IoM for the TT. I don't think it will be next year though :( Perhaps I can take you up on that offer another year though! I would really want to come on my bike to but my PFB is only 15 months so he's far too young for that yet!

Oh rainbow am very jealous of you living at the home of TT! Although biker DH (who also rides for a living) has said he'd never race in it, we're looking at coming to IoM in the next few years (DS is only 6months so it will be when he's ready...he loves the sound of DH's bike/those on the MotoGP).

She has proper helmet intercom jacket with armour trousers and boots and gloves - she's actually better kitted out than her dad!

It will be the last trip on the bike - it is being sold to pay for LPG conversion to camper van so we can afford more family time camping!

I am a physio used to work in a large hospital in Scotland and the horrific bike injuries we saw I would say no way. And the people who made it to us were the ones who survived.

Ive seen amputations, fractures needing months of treatment with external fixators and brain damage.

The majority of times it wasn't the biker at fault but they are always the ones that come off worse.

absolutely, iloveeverton.

i live very close to a neuro-disability clinic. it's 70% full of bikers.

I've also worked in headway
Head injury units,
Mostly there due to bike accidents.
NO WAY i'd say

xDivAx & AWomancalledHorse, you ladies are exactly the people I hoped to find with my offer of accomodation! I love TT and everything that goes with it. I live in port erin, (we get our own Bushy's tent on the beach!) the best beach on the island so bring your bucket & spade :) it is perfect for families cos you are out of the main hustle & bustle, but there is loads for littlies to do.. as I said, PM me to talk more, I dont want to derail the thread..

Rainbowsprite, I don't mind!! Go ahead and derAil away!!!

So we've reached a decision, and they're going for it

They're going to stop at least every hundred miles and call me through the whole trip, which eases my mind a little. They're both so excited too

I think DH was expecting me to wobble and say no, and bless him he was quite prepared to not go as he knows I'll panic; BUT she is his PFB too - he cares just as much as I do and will be so careful with her.

So we're now on the countdown!! They set off 5 weeks on Tuesday

I'm sure they'll have a great time!

I would say no.

I lost my brother in a motorbike accident, he was 28 at the time.

I don't understand why you would take a child on a motorbike...the roads are so dangerous and bikes offer protection at all.

I have ridden a motorbike for 10 years with no problems - a few near misses but that happens in cars too. I know someone who was injured in a car accident and is disabled. There are risks whatever you do.

We live in a world where risk is increasingly seen as bad, and every attempt is made to minimise it, but this doesn't necessarily help us to learn to avoid it ourselves which is surely the more crucial thing? We are creatures who learn by taking and managing risk - you can't avoid all risk and I don't think it's wise to try. Obviously some things are totally bonkers, like driving the wrong way up a road, but riding a motorbike can be done very safely and in some circumstances you can be safer on a bike as you can manoeuvre out of dodgy situations more quickly in less space, and you can be thrown clear of an accident rather than potentially trapped in a car.

There is much less traffic up in Scotland and it is a beautiful place to ride. I think your DD will have a ball and your DH will model for her how to carry out a road trip like that responsibly. It is an experience she will never, ever forget, and the motorbike aspect is a big part of that - you see the world differently on 2 wheels without all the metal bits of the car body interrupting your view - the sort of freedom she will feel (and your DH, come to think of it), from a week on a bike cannot be replicated in a car. It is the kind of thing I would have loved to do with my dad - he took me away on climbing trips instead, which have had a real impact on my life - my mum worried but she never said not to go, and those trips and experiences have shaped who I am today.

I'm glad you have agreed for them to go, I understand that you will be worried but I think it will be such an amazing experience for her that she shouldn't be denied it.

I've just read the whole thread and although it's hard I think you are making the right decision. They will have an amazing adventure I'm sure!

Rainbow - what a fabulous offer! This is the first year I've seen the TT and I was hooked. Last year I was on the back of DP's bike, this year i am learning myself. I hope to be that family in several years taking the kids to see it 'live'!

It sounds fantastic, but I can understand your reservations. I really want a motorbike too now

I wouldn't, but then DH was in a horrific accident a few years back, and the other driver was at fault. DH was an extremely careful driver, but has not been able to get back on a bike since then.

If they are determined to do this, I would think that they would be willing to sit down and work out some safety rules - such as very frequent breaks and making sure she knows what to do in an emergency (just in case, god forbid, anything happens).

Does seem a bit bonkers that we have all these seatbelt & booster rules for children in cars yet the rules surrounding bikes seem very lax! Anyway, decision made!!

Best of luck to them, assuming that nothing goes wrong it will be a great adventure.

I wouldn't be comfortable with it though. My dh is a biker, he has had his bike for less than a year and in that time two people have reversed into it (when parked) sending it toppling over and three weeks ago someone cut him up then immediately braked hard which sent him skidding across the tarmac. £2000 worth of damage, luckily he got away with scrapes and bruises and the driver has very decently admitted liability despite no damage to his vehicle, but I wouldn't have liked for either of our kids to have been on the bike at the time.

People just don't see bikes! I have no idea why that is, I honestly don't think drivers deliberately put bikers at risk but they seem to be invisible to people in cars. We've looked hard for the switch to turn off the invisibility cloak but we can't locate it.

I would let my DD go. You can't spend your whole life say what if. What if she gets hit by a bus crossing the road? Do you keep them in the house forever?

I bet they will have a great time.

sposh I have a couple of suggestions for why bikes are invisible, based on the way bikers drive on the roads in my area
-weaving in & out of traffic very quickly & sitting on the far right side of a car ready to overtake - in this position, I don't see the bike as it is hidden by the bodywork of my car & I haven't seen it come up behind me because of how quickly it's moving. I have had instances of checking my mirror - no bike & 3 sec later, one roaring past.

• small vans that have windows in the rear doors - the metal framing where the doors join can hide a motobike tailgating. It can even hide a car, depending on the distance. It is apparent to me in these instances that motorcyclists are not aware that they can't be seen.

-bikes will often attempt to overtake more than one car at a time, very dangerous if the 2nd car in the queue has been waiting to overtake the 1st car.

Not saying your DH drives like this, but it is amazing at how well a bike is hidden by the framework of a car.

krasnayaploshad, we have this fantastic new invention these days called "a neck". It allows you to move your head so you can see into the blind spots in your mirrors. It's ever so clever!

Good for you.

Yes people have accidents on bikes but if she was on a pony, or doing ballet no one would bat an eye lid. I hope they both have a fantastci time and just one word to your DP - treat the last ten miles as the most dangerous - this is where most accidents happen.

krasnayaploshad

I had a transit van over take me earlier this week, it was on a zebra crossing complete with zig zag lines - it doesn't mean all van drivers are complete idionts.

Snorbs, you say we have a neck, yes they are a great invention, but not every body can move theirs. My dad for example has a fused neck and relies on mirrors, we chose his car very carefully to get the best rear view we could.

I saw an amazing adapted car for a chap who obviously only had use of one hand and yet could drive well, he had absolutely no movement of the rest of his body.

Lastly, when talking to a driving instructor he mentioned it is dangerous to look over your shoulder when on a dual carriageway as you lose focus on the road ahead and can wobble the wheels. I still find it hard to break the habit of looking over my shoulder though.

Many bikers are safe drivers, we you have to admit there are those who weave through traffic and speed.

when talking to a driving instructor he mentioned it is dangerous to look over your shoulder when on a dual carriageway as you lose focus on the road ahead and can wobble the wheels.

I am genuinely astonished that a driving instructor recommends against checking your blind-spot. Shifting lane on a dual carriageway without doing a "life-saver" glance over your shoulder is not just spectacularly dangerous but very dumb. If such a manoeuvre caused an accident then you would very likely be considered at fault for driving without due care and attention.

If your vehicle control is so poor that you can't do a quick glance over your right shoulder as a "life saver" without losing directional stability then, quite frankly, you need to have your driving licence taken away.

If your physical disabilities prevent you from being able to check your blind spot then you need to develop better observational skills to ensure that you spot vehicles approaching from behind before you lose them in your blind-spot. And if you cannot do that then I would seriously question whether you were really able to drive safely.

Yes there are bikers who weave through traffic and speed (although I see bmw car drivers do the same much more often than I see bikers do it). But in my 20-odd years of driving I think there has only been one or two occasions when a bike has genuinely taken me by surprise by apparently appearing out of nowhere. In neither of those instances was either myself, or the biker, at risk because I wasn't changing lane or turning right. Nevertheless in both those cases I consider myself at fault for not paying enough attention to what's around me.

When I am attempting a manouvre where a bike coming up from behind might be at risk then I make damn sure I've been watching the traffic in my mirrors to spot any bikes weaving in and out long before they get anywhere near me. And whether I have or haven't spotted any faster bikes, I still make doubly sure that I do a life-saver glance over my shoulder before breaking out of my lane. Just in case.

Why is this such an apparently impossibly high standard of due care and attention?