To think this is so unsafe…

[MyBadHabitsLeadToYou]

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??

We have a bike seat and a bike trailer, and we live in a busy capital (not London to be fair). I've never felt unsafe when using either. I have, on the other hand, felt unsafe when biking alone because cars take way bigger liberties then, passing really close and fast. Most drivers don't want to be held responsible for killing a child, because according to society their lives are worth way more - which I'm totally not against because it means we get loads of room on the roads and people are much more considerate!

So many judgemental posters here criticising us who do use them, as if we are shocking parents that haven't weighed up the risks first. If you don't want to use them yourself, that's fine - but don't automatically assume they're flimsy and unsafe just based on a glance or a picture. They're actually really sturdy and the harnesses are very similar to those in car seats, so they're safe even on bumpy roads. The trailers are fab because they don't impact your centre of gravity.

But of course this wouldn't be MN if there weren't parents criticising other parents - of course I am exposing my child to near certain death just by daring to venture out with this I'm even doing it while 26 weeks pregnant, someone call social services!!

Cargo bikes are the way to go!

@Booknooks

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?

Are you blaming cyclists for breathing fumes your car produces?

I agree OP.

It concerns me when I see those trailer things or small children in bike seats, but it makes me drive extra carefully. In fact, I’m very cautious around all cyclists. They are incredibly vulnerable and there have been some nasty (fatal) accidents recently (none involving children). Most have been with large lorries.

I think it’s great that parents go out with their children on their bike, as long as they are confident cyclists. I would never do it because I’m not confident riding a bike in traffic on my own, but I wish I was. In fact I’m thinking of joining a cycling club to get some experience.

We should be encouraging bikes and making it safer to cycle on our roads.

Are you blaming cyclists for breathing fumes your car produces?

Seen as I don't have a car currently nope, but realistically everyone purchases, consumes or uses at least something that had gone via road so we all contribute. The point is anyway that the trailers are low to the ground and their faces will be around exhaust height or just above, also to note that doesn't relate to cylists who sit higher than the young child in a tethered trailer.

I understand the safety concerns but some of the nasty attitudes of some on this thread to the parents who transport their children this way is ridiculous.

It is imperative that we reduce the number of cars on the road for all of our sakes, and calling people who try to cycle not drive shit parents just makes you sound like an arsehole.

Thank you @SlipperyDippery. Honestly it’s a fantastic example to be setting your children. As long as you don’t cycle like an idiot and wear a helmet etc surely doing your bit for the environment and your children’s future is excellent parenting.

@TatianaBis

Part 2: motorway driving with no straps.

😂😂 When I went on my first holiday to the West Country in 1983; the seat belt law had only been introduced a few months earlier. I spent the entire journey (from Lancashire) stood on the ‘hump’ between the seats with my arms on the back of my parents headrests!

@MrsSkylerWhite

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.

Do you not see the ridiculousnous of this post? This thread is so typical. Cyclists are the ones to blame for x y z. Never drivers. It's never drivers who are putting others a risk by pumping out pollution, or close passing cyclists, or not stopping at give way signs. All in huge metal boxes that weigh multiple tonnes. No, it's the cyclists that need to change their behaviour. Ffs

Those little trailers give me the absolute fear. Like an HGV driver might even notice a little flag signalling helmetless, roll cageless dc in busy traffic?! I know they are supposed to be paying full attention and not glancing at their phones etc but guess what, they do! Seats aren't any better there are loads of cycling fatalities in this city. No there isn't a huge number of child deaths, mainly because most people aren't crazy enough to do it but I'll never fail to be horrified by those who do!

Exactly, we need to make it safer to cycle for everyone and try to reduce vehicles. I use by bike to get around but I never felt safe on the roads with my DC's on the back, only in country park places. But as a driver, the idea of encountering one of those trailer things on a country road, unexpectedly really scares me.

YABU. But of course, parents should risk assess and not weave around a gyratory beside HGVs with a trailer. I've never seen a parent taking their kid in traffic like that.

I'm really happy to carry my kid on the back of my bike round the neighbourhood. Climate change and pollution are massive problems. Nothing is going to change if we don't start changing it.

Oh I hate seeing small children in those flimsy trailers
One stupid driver and you’ve got an injured child - or worse
So so dangerous. I once saw a tiny baby - 3 months ish in one of those no safety straps as far as I could see. I was horrified

Definitely needs banning

I’m a cyclist. At peak I was cycling about three hours a day, every day, on my commute (now work a lot closer to home). I’ve been hit and almost hit so many times by shit drivers making illegal manoeuvres or just frankly driving with their eyes closed, that there’s no way I’d put my child on the back of my bike.

I’d happily ride on a coastal path, or in a nature reserve or park, or anywhere else without traffic. But not up the Walworth Road and around the Elephant and Castle roundabout, or anywhere I usually cycle myself.

To be fair, the parents at nursery who take their kids on their bikes usually have a route home that is limited to quiet residential roads and through parks. I don’t see them on main roads.

Oh I was hit by a car when my ds was on the back as a baby not a scratch on him he had a helmet he cried for 2 mins I however was black and blue all over thanks to a stupid driver playing on there phone they clipped the back of my bike I did replace his seat and we were back out the week later however I agree on the trailers I don't like them and they are not very visible

I agree. And I would imagine the reason there aren't more accidents/deaths is because most parents wouldn't dream of putting their DC at risk like that.

Oh bore off.

This is the future, all those parents are taking steps to actively tackle pollution and climate change. Showing their kids you don’t have to drive a noxious ridiculous vehicle a few miles to school or work or to the park, and instead you can be active and be part of the change. It’s people like you that’s has put us in this mess in the first place. As PP have said Amazon and others are now doing this in central London as more and more streets go car free and LTNs expand. Children in London are dying from air pollution. I cannot believe what I am reading.

Back in the 70's my dad used to take me to school on his crossbar, sitting on a cushion, tied with a scarf, it was very uncomfortable!! Just in case anyone fancies a bit of levity in this (rightly) serious thread.

Ps I'm talking about busy roads. Parks and very quiet residential streets are different.

Here are the stats from 2020 - 862 cyclists seriously injured in London alone. Almost certainly due to driver error not cyclist error, so completely out of the cyclists’ control. Not worth the risk IMO.

www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-cyclist-deaths-increase-during-covid-pandemic-b942378.html

I think we should ban buggies too and everyone with children should always drive everywhere. Don't you know a buggy is at exhaust height? Loads of pedestrians get killed every year and a buggy is no protection for a child in an accident. At the very least it should be illegal to cross the road with a buggy because poor drivers might not see it. But really children would be much safer at home.

This is the future, all those parents are taking steps to actively tackle pollution and climate change. Showing their kids you don’t have to drive a noxious ridiculous vehicle a few miles to school or work or to the park, and instead you can be active and be part of the change. It’s people like you that’s has put us in this mess in the first place. As PP have said Amazon and others are now doing this in central London as more and more streets go car free and LTNs expand. Children in London are dying from air pollution. I cannot believe what I am reading.

This doesn't make sense. There's more than one alternative to putting a small child in a bike seat. I have 3 DC. I've never driven them to school, or to town. We walk everywhere, or if it's over an hour we would use the car, but poeple could use buses or trains. To say I'm part of the problem because I've never strapped my child to a flimsy seat in traffic is ridiculous

I cannot believe what I am reading.

That’s because you are fixating on only one part of this and not the whole picture.

I entirely agree with you on the environmental and health part of it. But unfortunately these considerations don’t magically erect a shield around children while they’re in these things.

I'd think the trailers were safer than the seats

Yes, kids travelling round at exhaust level seems very safe.