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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Bike towing a child in a trailer on an A road

59 replies

WinniePig · 30/05/2020 19:49

Driving back from garden centre today on an A road with a 60mph limit, we join a queue of traffic waiting to overtake cyclist towing a trailer. As we pass, I notice a toddler in the trailer...on a busy single carriageway...with a 60mph limit!!! WTAF? How stupid and dangerous. The road is bendy and fast in places. It may be legal but seriously would you risk towing your child in what is practically a tent on wheels?

AIBU or was that an incredibly stupid thing to do?

OP posts:

superram · 30/05/2020 21:01

Distance, I’m obviously a cunt that doesn’t preview.....,

Harriett123 · 30/05/2020 21:01

I agree with pp that the cyclist has every right to be there.
Personally I have cycled on these types of road in the past. However in my experience drivers can be drangerous and I've been thrown off my bike by a van in a 30 mph zone.
I might risk my own life on these roads but I would never put my child in that risk.

Siameasy · 30/05/2020 21:02

Bloody hell thats dangerous. Lorries on those A roads used to unnerve me when I had a smaller car. We get cyclists on our local A road (70mph) and often with no lights at night.

overnightangel · 30/05/2020 21:05

I’ve seen this and my first thought was “shit parent who values their hipster cred over their child’s life”

DesignedForLife · 30/05/2020 21:08

YANBU. That’s not safe. If the cyclist wobbles and jackknifes themselves nothing can stop in time.

CherrySpritz · 30/05/2020 21:25

Why are people assuming that if an accident occurred a car driver would be at fault? The cyclist may lose concentration and crash into something else and the child could well be catapulted out on to the road. There doesn’t need to be a car involved at all for the child to be hurt.

Sausagis · 30/05/2020 21:32

"you can drag a child along a road at car tyre level outside a car with a sheet of canvas between them and a moving vehicle! "

While I agree it's dangerous and I wouldn't do it, its not just canvas - it's a metal roll cage, which the child is 5-point-harnessed into. At least all the ones I've seen have been.

PawPawNoodle · 30/05/2020 21:32

@BillywilliamV

Tough, we have every right to be there, you just have to be careful and patient!

Thats all well and good Billy mate, I have every right to talk down an NSL road but it doesn't make it a good or safe idea. They are generally worse kept roads where traffic moves faster, you may have a ~right~ and of course I drive responsibly and legally, but that doesn't stop me wishing you didn't. Adding a trailer on the back with a child in it is just lunacy to me.

MrsAvocet · 30/05/2020 21:34

I wouldn't personally.
We did have a bike trailer when our kids were very little but we only used it on cyclepaths or very quiet roads. (We live in a fairly isolated place.)
Yes, it is legal and cyclists do have the right to cycle on roads of that nature, but to my mind there are too many things that could go wrong and I wouldn't take the risk.
But then people do all kinds of things that I wouldn't do, and I'm sure I do plenty that others wouldn't approve of.

ChrisAndJonty · 30/05/2020 21:38

I'm neither a driver or a cyclist but have very strong feelings about this. It doesn't matter how careful a driver you are things can go wrong. Heart attack at the wheel, some sort of seizure at the wheel (Glasgow bin lorry tragedy), tiredness, texting, road rage and cutting someone up can all lead to a possible pile up and what chance would a child stand in that situation. Plus the fact that the trailer could become separated and cast into oncoming traffic doesn't bear thinking about.

Anyway, those are my thoughts.

Cocacola12 · 30/05/2020 21:40

We are hoping to buy a trailer for my youngest to go in when we cycle on an old railway line close to our house, the only thing putting me off is the fact we’d have to CROSS a 40 mph road. Never mind actually drive down it!! Absolutely beggars belief that any parent could think that was acceptable?!

Nottherealslimshady · 30/05/2020 21:45

Theres a NSL road near us that is so bendy and so dangerous but frequently has walkers and cyclists on it. It's also steep as fuck so the cyclists are going so slow upwards you can barely keep your car from stalling but you cant overtake because you cant see round the bend.

It also has a bus route which is another thing all together! Nothing like coming round a bend to find a bus on 50% of your side of the road!

leckford · 30/05/2020 21:50

I still remember the day a long time ago and the first time I saw this on the M27 near Eastleigh, I was gobsmacked by the stupidity. They must have taken a wrong turning.

The standard of driving as got so much worse since the lockdown and many are driving at high speeds.

I have a horse, I never ride on roads, it is now too dangerous

bluefoxmug · 30/05/2020 21:52

those trailers are quite safe. they are a firm metal cage and children are strapped in a safety harness.

but I agree with posters - drivers need to drive better and more considerate. cycling is the most energy efficient way of transport and should ideally be the transport of choice up to 5 miles.

cologne4711 · 30/05/2020 21:55

I also hate those bike seats for children. If you fall over (or get hit by a stupid driver) you can potentially jump clear. They are stuck there and the helmet isn't going to help one little bit. Use a cargo bike or wait until they can cycle themselves.

As for the A road thing as a pp has said sometimes you can't avoid going on a busy A road for a short distance between quieter roads or parts of cycle paths. But I wouldn't choose to cycle on one myself, never mind with a small child.

Fuss · 30/05/2020 21:58

When dd was in nursery a man used to collect a child and had a bike. Attached to the back was a ramshackle homemade contraption in which he’d put small child and then cycle off down the main road, usually pulling straight into it without a glance.
The homemade ‘cart’ was low, had no lights or reflectors and frankly it terrified me. I felt awful but spoke to school staff about it.

Assuming something was said as a week later he had a proper one which at least had lights, reflectors and a flag. He still rode it with little care though and it continued to scare me until the child left the school.

DingDongDenny · 30/05/2020 21:59

We now have lots of walkers out on our local roads, which are windy with lots of blind corners and cars doing 50 miles an hour on them. It's no different to meeting a stationary object coming round a blind bend. Someone is going to get killed before long.

Yes, you can say they have a right to be on the road - but that's not going to be any comfort to their relatives when they are dead

TimeWastingButFun · 30/05/2020 22:06

I don't think children should be on a bike until they can ride it themselves - and never on busy roads. I've seen far too much bad driving.

Mycatismadeofstringcheese · 30/05/2020 22:09

I used to drive hone along a long A road that varied between 40 and 60mph limits. There was a guy that cycled it in a low down recumbent bike. He was practically horizontal and while he did have a flag, at dusk as the sun was setting it or in the dark it was really hard to see him. I knew to look out for him but it still seemed dangerous.
A child in a trailer on an A road is really dangerous.

topology444 · 30/05/2020 22:11

The problem is that there is often no real alternative. Where are these cycle paths away from traffic that actually lead from where you live to where you want to go? You cannot really cycle on the footpath (an A-road won't have one) so you need to use the road. Most leisure and commuting cyclists would love to have cycle paths that are wide enough and ideally away from traffic. Cycling with children is nerve racking (because of the traffic otherwise it is completely fine) but so much better for the children and the environment than sitting in a car!

DingDongDenny · 30/05/2020 22:23

so much better for the children and the environment than sitting in a car!
it may be better for the environment, but sucking up exhaust fumes definitely isn't better for children. Fine if it's a quiet road but not a busy one.

MotherWol · 30/05/2020 22:34

I have taken maps which suddenly have half a mile on very busy roads, but there may be no alternative to get to the next part of cycle lane.

Same here - I plan my cycle rides with my daughter very carefully so we’re mostly on quiet roads with very little traffic, but sometimes it’s impossible to avoid a short section on busier roads in order to get to the quiet ones. Is it too much to ask for a little patience and understanding from drivers? Literally no-one rides on busy roads because they enjoy it!

AnnaMagnani · 30/05/2020 22:35

Normal behaviour for Cambridge. TBH I prefer them to the students with no lights on their bikes.

Anywhere else I'd assume it was madness.

Nonotthatdr · 30/05/2020 22:38

OMG people walking or driving along public roads..whatever next?

If you live in place A and need to get to place B to go to the shop/doctors/school etc and you don’t or can’t drive how should people get there if they shouldn’t walk or cycle, especially if there are no bus services currently due to coronavirus?

In the village I live in all the roads once out of the village no longer have footpaths and are NSL, am I stuck here forever? (I can drive btw but I used to use the bus that is now not running so now I walk/cycle with my daughter in a child seat on the back - personally I wouldn’t use a trailer due to lack of visibility to car users but the idea that the only allowed way to travel on roads is by car is just insane.

And if the kid comes out of the trailer in a minor crash then there is something Very wrong with the trailer - they should have a roll cage and a five point harness and for small babies the car seat is fitted in the trailer.

YeahWhatevver · 30/05/2020 22:39

OP describes someone cycling on a busy road and mumsnet are up in arms about it

2 days ago poster describes someone cycling on the pavement and mumsnet are up in arms about it.

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