Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this is so unsafe…

381 replies

MyBadHabitsLeadToYou · 30/08/2021 18:51

Parents with toddlers on the back of the bike, cycling on busy city roads with the buses and the crazy drivers.

Howwww is this legal?! When the rules on car seats are so strict.

And don’t even start me on those flimsy trailer things that are so low down they couldn’t be seen from a large car.

Am I missing something??

OP posts:
lannistunut · 01/09/2021 06:46

@Littlescottiedog

I'm amazed by this thread. I love cycling down to the nearest woods with my DC in the seat on the back, or taking them to nursery or the playpark. I had no idea people were looking at me and thinking "What a bad mother". Confused
Well I wouldn't be thinking that! The freedom of cycling is brilliant, my cycling kids get off and are so energised by it, plus they are mentally active when travelling instead of passive.

I do agree cycling should be made safer, but to paraphrase from Blair-era politics, if the answer is 'drive instead of cycle', you're asking the wrong question.

KaycePollard · 01/09/2021 06:51

Am I missing something??

Yes.

What you’re missing is that it’s cars and drivers who are dangerous. Not cyclists

KaycePollard · 01/09/2021 06:53

But every cyclist is overall making the world cleaner and safer, and every driver makes the world dirtier and more dangerous.

Absolutely.

bakingdemon · 01/09/2021 08:02

Everyone cycles around us - we live in a city, the speed limit is 20mph, it transforms how far you can go and what you can do with kids if you can cycle. DS loves it, we all have helmets and high vis gear and we've never felt unsafe.

MrsSkylerWhite · 01/09/2021 08:24

lannistunut

MrsSkylerWhite
I really think this thread is grim, attacking parents who are trying to do the best for their children.“

How is putting them directly in harm’s way trying to do their best for them?
How is trashing the environment, causing local air pollution and setting your kids up for a sedentary life better? confused“

Lots of assuming from both points of view on this thread.

Lots of people neither drive nor cycle but walk, often deliberately away from main roads because it’s proven that air quality is better just a few metres away from them.
Walking is brilliant Smile

Kintsugi16 · 01/09/2021 08:34

@Littlescottiedog

I'm amazed by this thread. I love cycling down to the nearest woods with my DC in the seat on the back, or taking them to nursery or the playpark. I had no idea people were looking at me and thinking "What a bad mother". Confused
I would be smiling and cheering you on.

There’s no better feeling than cycling.
I look at all the car drivers and feel like they’re missing out. Take a look at all the faces next time.
Car - Sad
Cycle - Smile

Puzzledandpissedoff · 01/09/2021 08:38

... it’s cars and drivers who are dangerous. Not cyclists

Actually it can be both; it's just that cars can obviously cause more damage to more vulnerable road users

And the most vulnerable in all this happen to be those on foot - pity too many cyclists don't consider that when speeding around crowded pedestrian areas

Joelijane · 01/09/2021 08:58

Also crazy moped and motorbike drivers are scary too, lawless, so I'm always worried when I see the trailers with children inside them.

starlight13 · 01/09/2021 09:47

I agree OP when it is a busy area plus all the fumes aswell - why would anyone do this in these places?Countryside, quieter areas and cycle lanes are safer.
It does seem astounding that parents do this, they've just been lucky so far.

hibbledibble · 01/09/2021 10:00

Wow, what a vicious, anti-cycling thread.

Cyclists are not the problem. Lack of infrastructure is. If cyclist were in protected cycle lanes away from cars then their would be no risk whatsoever to cyclists.

I have cycled with kids on my bike, but on quiet roads, with hi Vis and helmets.

Cycling reduces CO2 and NO emissions, which contribute to global warming, and poor air quality, which reduces life expectancy. We need more cyclists, and more cycling infrastructure.

Many can also not afford a car, and criticising cyclists from the point of a wealthy car owner is downright horrible. Cycling is a useful means of transport, and allows people to get to work. It's been a life saver for me during lockdown when I still had to travel to work, but public transport was not viable.

Gobbycop · 01/09/2021 10:29

Because cyclists are indestructible.

Put on lycra and you simply can't be harmed.

Actually you can, I'm a cop lycra doesn't really work that well.

HeronLanyon · 01/09/2021 10:31

I haven’t read this as a ‘vicious anti cyclist thread’ - seems pretty balanced and thoughtful in the main.

Goldbar · 01/09/2021 10:32

I'm not anti-cycling, just anti-towing small children in trailers on busy roads. The bike seats for kids look marginally safer but I still wouldn't want to trust them to keep my child safe.

But my position is coloured from living in a city which is very cycle-unfriendly and you regularly hear about cyclists being killed or seriously injured (two people I know have been killed cycling). You see cyclists in unsafe situations or being regularly cut up by cars. I can understand why people would take that risk for themselves - cycling is a great form of exercise and an easy way to get around - but it makes me uneasy when they take that risk for their children.

Of course, if you live in a cycle-friendly city with dedicated, separate cycle lanes, the risk level is completely different and cycling with your children may be much safer.

Carriecakes80 · 01/09/2021 12:12

Me and all mine have used bikes, never anywhere too busy, always use cycle paths where we can, not ever had a car. Gets us there healthily, cheaply and seeing as I've been doing it 24 years without any problems as yet, its a great way to travel. Get shot of the cars and get us all on bikes!

Pedalpushers · 01/09/2021 13:33

I love that everyone is pearl clutching about how awful and unsafe various cycling practices are...because A CAR MIGHT HIT THEM...or you might breathe in CAR FUMES...and yet the cyclists are the problem...Hmm

Here's an idea...get out of your dangerous, polluting car and cycle for a change and you might make the world better for everyone around you.

Goldbar · 01/09/2021 13:41

Back in the real world...

Cars exist and they're not going away any time soon, whether we like it or not. So you can pretend the threat doesn't exist and put your children at risk or you can take sensible safety precautions to keep them safe. This includes not schlepping them around protected only by flimsy canvas or plastic on busy roads populated with lorries, buses and fast-moving traffic.

You may think that cars are the problem (and as someone who hardly ever drives, I would tend to agree) but that's not going to put a protective force field around your children.

00100001 · 01/09/2021 13:46

@Goldbar

Back in the real world...

Cars exist and they're not going away any time soon, whether we like it or not. So you can pretend the threat doesn't exist and put your children at risk or you can take sensible safety precautions to keep them safe. This includes not schlepping them around protected only by flimsy canvas or plastic on busy roads populated with lorries, buses and fast-moving traffic.

You may think that cars are the problem (and as someone who hardly ever drives, I would tend to agree) but that's not going to put a protective force field around your children.

In which case, let's never let them walk anywhere.
Mustbeme124 · 01/09/2021 13:47

Oh fgs, stop with the cyclist bashing.
If some car drivers weren’t so selfish and pass by so close because they can’t wait a few minutes to pass then cycling wouldn’t be anywhere near as dangerous.
Also, if the government made the country more cycle friendly then cycling to work would be safer, more people would do it and there would be less obese, stressed people.
Not everyone owns a car, and not everyone wants to drive every where so get over it. Worry about yourself OP and let other people make their own decisions without all your judgement.

Original poster
MyBadHabitsLeadToYou · 01/09/2021 13:49

If some car drivers weren’t so selfish and pass by so close because they can’t wait a few minutes to pass then cycling wouldn’t be anywhere near as dangerous

…well yeah.

But i mean, is being right about that going to protect your child on the back of the bike?

OP posts:
00100001 · 01/09/2021 13:59

@MyBadHabitsLeadToYou

If some car drivers weren’t so selfish and pass by so close because they can’t wait a few minutes to pass then cycling wouldn’t be anywhere near as dangerous

…well yeah.

But i mean, is being right about that going to protect your child on the back of the bike?

Is being right going to stop children being pedestrian casualties in road accidents?
Original poster
MyBadHabitsLeadToYou · 01/09/2021 14:06

No. Sadly it is not. But pedestrians aren’t constantly in the middle of the road with the buggy. If they were I’d be commenting on that too.

OP posts:
YouMeandtheSpew · 01/09/2021 14:15

Well I certainly don’t look at parents with kids in bike seats or trailers and think ‘what bad parents’. I think ‘good for them keeping fit and thereby reducing the strain on the NHS, and also thank you to them for getting from A to B without releasing harmful emissions that exacerbate the climate crisis while causing around 30,000-40,000 premature deaths in this country alone every year.’

I fully understand why cycling isn’t for everyone (it isn’t for me) but I really don’t see how someone can travel in a vehicle with a combustion engine and actually feel morally superior to someone on a bike 😂

DrinkFeckArseBrick · 01/09/2021 14:48

After 15 pages...has anyone actually managed to find any stats that prove cycling with a toddler in a bike seat is dangerous?

I've seen a lot about lycra clad nasty dangerous cyclists skipping lights and weaving in and out of traffic. Which absolutely happens when people cycle by themselves but I've never seen happen by mums with a child on their bike

Goldbar · 01/09/2021 14:52

I really don’t see how someone can travel in a vehicle with a combustion engine and actually feel morally superior to someone on a bike

I don't feel morally superior but I do feel safer.

00100001 · 01/09/2021 14:59

@DrinkFeckArseBrick

After 15 pages...has anyone actually managed to find any stats that prove cycling with a toddler in a bike seat is dangerous?

I've seen a lot about lycra clad nasty dangerous cyclists skipping lights and weaving in and out of traffic. Which absolutely happens when people cycle by themselves but I've never seen happen by mums with a child on their bike

Lol, no, of course they haven't. Because cyclists aren't at the greatest risk, child pedestrians are.