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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:
MintyGreenDream · 30/08/2021 19:42

Every time i see a child in those trailer things i worry that a car will hit it

PivotPivotPivottt · 30/08/2021 19:43

I agree. My relative ended up in hospital as a toddler after the full seat came off of her dad's bike. It was obviously poorly fitted but it's stuck with me 20 odd years later and everytime I see one it makes me feel nervous. I don't think the seats or the trailer are safe as you say a car could easily hit them. But as someone else has pointed out the low stats I have to say I don't think I've heard any stories of children being injured or killed in them so perhaps I'm just a worrier.

Alleycat02 · 30/08/2021 19:44

I just got one of those little trailers for my toddler, have only taken her out on it on wide paths in a country park - no way in hell would I consider taking her in it on a road with cars 😱

Soveryhungry · 30/08/2021 19:45

@pictish you're right, I'm so tired I wrote it in a weird way and then misread my own writing...need to give up and go to bed!

CourgetteGlutTony · 30/08/2021 19:46

@whenthedoveslie

Presumably you don’t do this, so why are you concerned?

It is precisely why many of us don't. Because it is fucking dangerous. I assume you do. You hugely risk the safety of your children.

I suspect you don't care as long as your cyclist privilege is upheld.

What cyclist privilege? I don’t know what you mean by this.
I ride a bike because it’s easy, it’s quick and it’s a cheap sustainable form of transport. I also have a car which I use for longer journeys.
Franklyfrost · 30/08/2021 19:47

I move my kids around in a cargo bike. You can die being hit by a car by it's way more common to die from a sedentary life style. If everyone able to do so put their kids on a bike for short journeys it would be much safer for cyclists and also fewer deaths from air pollution. Think about that while you judge from your car seat.

Gastropod · 30/08/2021 19:48

Gosh, I knew many on MN did not like cyclists but this thread is extraordinary!

I cycle everywhere and when my kids were small I cycled with them on the back of my bike.

I never contributed to road congestion or air pollution.
It allowed me to work full time and collect my children from crèche on time.

I cycled safely in bike lanes and always signalled, obeyed traffic lights, stopped/ pulled in carefully and safely when they were on the back. I was aware of all traffic around me, and I stayed away from busy roads. I still do all these things. I value my kids' lives, and my own.

And I don't labour under any illusions that car - or bike - travel is magically safe.

Username7521 · 30/08/2021 19:48

@Franklyfrost ohh which one do you have? I have a bakfeits short and just love it!

Booknooks · 30/08/2021 19:48

Also at a nice height to breathe in all of those lovely fumes from traffic, mmm. I agree OP, some of those trailers are ridiculous, I wonder how stringent the safety testing is?

MrsSkylerWhite · 30/08/2021 19:50

Those trailers ought to be illegal. Forget the obvious collisions dangers, they’re at exhaust height. Has society learned nothing about the long-term effects of pollution.

Akin to skiers who fly down the slopes with kids in backpacks.
They’re such expert cyclists/skiers that no accident could ever possibly befall them. Unbelievable arrogance.

PissedOffNeighbour22 · 30/08/2021 19:51

Saw a poor kid in one of those trailers a few days ago and the dad hit a curb pretty hard and she was flying around in the trailer. Didn't look safe at all Shock.

MauveMavis · 30/08/2021 19:52

Several of the big logistics companies have started using cargo bikes exclusively in central london as they are much more time efficient than using vehicular transport. In fact today I watched 4 cargo bikes remove the empty beer barrels from a pub.

Just think - if everyone got off their ass in their big fume emitting cars and started walking or using active travel for short journeys how much better the environment and the health of the occupants would be.

This is the solution - make cycling more common - not prioritising cars and scaring wannabe cyclists.

The vast majority of bicycle vs car RTAs are due to driver error.

DOI: cycle and own a car.

Summerfun54321 · 30/08/2021 19:52

I love cycling with my young DC on the back of the bike, but don’t go anywhere near busy roads with buses. There’s usually always a way of taking small roads to where you want to go, it might take much longer but I’d rather do that and keep my DC safer. Agree the trailers are really invisible if there isn’t a large flag.

Soveryhungry · 30/08/2021 19:52

@Booknooks but complaining about children breathing in fumes whilst on the back of a bike is nonsensical. They are not producing the fumes, their parents are not producing the fumes. The cars around them are producing the fumes. The solution is not for everyone not in a car to go home. The solution must surely be to have less cars? After all kids walking along on the pavement or in a buggy are also at the perfect height to breathe in those nasty fumes which are awful for their health.

Minesril · 30/08/2021 19:53

Cycling with DS on the back was one of my favourite parts of parenting! Once I stupidly went round an icy corner too fast, went over on my side. DS was absolutely fine. My leg on the other hand was killing me!

As for cars running into me, I was very, very, very cautious on main roads, getting off and walking if it looked too precarious. You have to have every single wit about you! DS heard some very choice language directed at dickhead drivers.

DS loved going round roundabouts. He'd be giggling away with me going 'please see me please see me...' Grin

joystir59 · 30/08/2021 19:53

Another reason why I can't stand cyclists. Batshit crazy to a one.

joystir59 · 30/08/2021 19:54

Cyclists are so incredibly vulnerable when cycling alongside cars. Mad.

HeronLanyon · 30/08/2021 19:54

I use neither. I’ve always assumed trailers are safer than child seats. But god they all look so vulnerable. I wouldn’t like to be in an open air trailer on busy streets.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 30/08/2021 19:55

Every time i see a child in those trailer things i worry that a car will hit it

You and me both. Admittedly it would be the driver's fault if they didn't see one and ran into it, but that's not much consolation if your child's injured or worse

Loving the way x number of deaths are always touted though, as if that proves anything when there's no consideration of time spent/miles travelled. I'd say it risks bringing common sense into it, but that's not always much use with some cyclists (and I cycle myself)

Original poster
MyBadHabitsLeadToYou · 30/08/2021 19:55

Minesril absolutely nothing in your post convinces me that it’s a good idea 😂 but I do understand why it might be enjoyable when they enjoy it.

OP posts:
Babyroobs · 30/08/2021 19:55

Safer than those crazy parents ( usually dads) on the school run who have the kids balanced on the handlebars !!

Thetepidstepper · 30/08/2021 19:56

I did this. I was skint, couldn't afford driving lessons, certainly couldn't afford a car and needed to get to work and back. Bus wasn't an option as it would have took an hour and a half each way just from childcare/school to work, plus more to walk there at the beginning and end of the day. I agree that the middle class tossers congratulating themselves on their carbon neutral lifestyle are dubious, but for people like I was it's a necessity. Maybe get employers to pay their staff enough to run a car? Can't say I enjoyed it tbh.

Gastropod · 30/08/2021 19:56

It also seems ironic that car drivers are calling to protect children from air pollution by encouraging more car travel!

There are various sources that suggest effects of pollution are also harmful inside cars. Lots of articles online such as this one: www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/12/children-risk-air-pollution-cars-former-uk-chief-scientist-warns

AlexandraQueen · 30/08/2021 19:56

2 out of 3 dc could escape their 5 point harness car seat (joie 360, not a cheap one) with ease by the time they were 2 so no way in hell would I strap them on the back of a bike/trailer for them to escape! I agree, incredibly dangerous (until the ratio of cyclists:cars shifts dramatically anyway)

UnfinishedBunting · 30/08/2021 19:57

This thread is eye opening - cyclists are relatively vulnerable therefore they should drive instead 🙈. Or should it be cyclists are relatively vulnerable therefore drivers should be particularly careful around them.