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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To have an issue with these being used in rush hour traffic...

31 replies

BuzzBuzzBuzzLightyear · 31/05/2017 18:34

I work in a very busy city centre. I'm fortunate enough to have a parking space underneath my office so I drive to work most days. DH and I car share.

In the last two weeks (with the good weather I guess) i have seen two different people cycling through busy city centre traffic with babies/toddlers in these things attached to the back of their bike.

Now, is it just me, or is that fucking bonkers extremely dangerous?! They are the flimsiest looking things, like a tent on wheels, right at exhaust level as well. DH agrees with me, he says they give him the heebie jeebies, but we are given to being slightly overprotective parents.

I can see the attraction in a country park or whatever but ffs!

To have an issue with these being used in rush hour traffic...
OP posts:
BeyondThePage · 31/05/2017 18:37

I'm guessing some people don't drive yet still need to get the kids to nursery on the way to work.

Original poster
BuzzBuzzBuzzLightyear · 31/05/2017 18:38

I'm quite sure, but there are safer ways surely...

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 31/05/2017 18:38

OP, I agree. I don't think a busy road in rush hour is the place for them. They look horrendously vulnerable.

Instasista · 31/05/2017 18:39

Oxford? Grin

Mooey89 · 31/05/2017 18:40

I agree, I say this all the time!

Original poster
BuzzBuzzBuzzLightyear · 31/05/2017 18:40

No, not Oxford. Much further north than that.

OP posts:
Groupie123 · 31/05/2017 18:40

I totally agree with you OP. I've also seen one of those things detach in the middle of the road - kid only escaped unscathed because of a quick thinking pedestrian.

Original poster
BuzzBuzzBuzzLightyear · 31/05/2017 18:42

Groupie that's horrendous.

OP posts:
Kokusai · 31/05/2017 18:43

I prefer cargo bikes.

Artisanjam · 31/05/2017 18:50

They have a metal roll cage and are incredibly safe. My DH was hit by a drunk driver who veered off the road and onto the cycle track where he was cycling and towing our DD.

DH was knocked off his bike and was left seriously injured. The trailer overturned a couple of times and twisted off the bike. DD had a small bruise on her hand and no other injuries.

The police said if she had been in a bike seat she would have been very badly injured even though she was wearing a helmet.

Mothervulva · 31/05/2017 18:50

I agree. I'm pro cycling but seeing these (London), give me the heebie jeebies.

absolutelynot · 31/05/2017 18:54

living in Cambridge I am surrounded by these things. Now, personally I wouldn't stick my kid in them, however in Cambridge traffic is so frigging dismal I would consider if I lived in the centre. That being said, I don't find an issue with the trailers as much as some of the parental mentality that goes along with them.

Adults in helmets, kids not.
Kids in helmets, adults not.
Lights on bike, not on trailer
Cyclist in hi-vis, trailer in black or dark red.

I am surrounded by some of the best brains in the world, except when it comes to common sense.

ErrolTheDragon · 31/05/2017 19:02

Somewhere like cambridge, surely it's the cars which are out of place?

People shouldn't be driving fast in urban areas, so they should be physically safe enough - however, the pollution is a real problem. But if you don't drive, the alternative is likely to involve a fair bit of walking which may be just as bad.

MiddlingMum · 31/05/2017 19:03

No, in Oxford they use those bikes with wooden boxes at the front Smile

Original poster
BuzzBuzzBuzzLightyear · 31/05/2017 19:08

In all honesty I have an issue with kids being on busy roads on bikes in any form e.g. Seat on the back. I just don't think it's safe. I think it's a huge risk.

I take your point artisan and I'm so glad your child was unscathed. However, surely there is an element of luck there. A 4x4 or a lorry could roll right over the top of one of those things. If it didn't have a flag on it, they might not even see it.

OP posts:
JennyOnAPlate · 31/05/2017 19:15

I completely agree with you op. Frankly I'm surprised they're even legal on the roads.

MinnowAndTheBear · 31/05/2017 19:21

I've been cycling on a cycle path alongside one of these things when one of the wheels fell off, and the whole thing came crashing to the ground. Thank goodness it didn't happen on a busy road.

Spindelina · 31/05/2017 19:21

In all honesty I have an issue with kids being on busy roads on bikes in any form e.g. Seat on the back.

So how do you propose those of us who don't own cars transport our children?

Spindelina · 31/05/2017 19:23

(I personally would like better cycle infrastructure - physical separation of cars from bikes on busy roads. But in the mean time?)

Blaaaaaaaah · 31/05/2017 19:25

So how do you propose those of us who don't own cars transport our children?

Walking, bus, tram, train, taxi.

If you live somewhere so remote none of them are an option I doubt you'll need to take your child into city centre rush hour anyway.

Artisanjam · 31/05/2017 19:25

We were on an off road cycle track. If a Land Rover or lorry had rolled on DH and DD whether they were walking, cycling or in the car, they would have been killed and yes, it did have a flag and was bright yellow, and it was a summer afternoon.

You don't have to carry your children on bikes in seats, trailers or cargo bikes if you don't want to, but trailers in particular are safe for all but the most extreme accidents.

We now don't cycle at all as a family - DH couldn't physically if he wanted to , but I'd rather people cycled and put their children in seats or trailers and cycled carefully than have more cars stationery on the road for rush hour. It can already take an hour to drive 5 miles and that's in a city where 30% of people regularly cycle.

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 31/05/2017 19:31

Going against the grain I'd rather see those on the roads in "busy city centres" than cars.

I'd happily ban all cars from the centre other than those required for people with blue badges thereby solving both your safety and exhaust fume concerns. For everyone :)

Mrsemcgregor · 31/05/2017 19:31

I use one everyday to take my DS to preschool. On the busy roads I use the pavements (these are signed as being pedestrian and cyclist) and cycle on the quieter roads. I would rather use the pavement the whole way, but would get flamed for that also I guess?

There is no bus router between preschool and my house, it's too far for my DS to walk and I don't have a car. What would you like me to do OP?

Once again cyclists are demons. Hmm

Artisanjam · 31/05/2017 19:32

That's not really quite right, is it blaaah.

Walking - great with small children for distances of up to a mile or so. Longer is very tricky.

Trams - very few places have them. My city doesn't.

Trains - great for long journeys. To use to get into the city I work in I'd have a 15 mile drive out to the nearest station followed by a wait for a train. Then travel from the station at the other end.

Taxi- increases car use as its two journeys. Expensive and inefficient.

Bus- great if you're on a bus route. Otherwise you have to drive to the nearest place where you can park and pick up a bus. For many people this is about the same as getting a bus the whole way.

I live near a city in the south east which is relatively well served by public transport but which has s lot of villages with one or two buses per day, even if they're only 2-3 miles out of the city. Cycling seems an obvious thing to do in the circumstances.

MovingtoParadise · 31/05/2017 19:37

They're fine in London what with the average speed being 3 or 4 miles per hour, slower by 50% when we had carriages and no cars.

Can you believe we used to be able to do 8mph in London

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