you know those carriages that attach to the back of bikes for children to sit in

[stottiecake]

Don't you think they are a bit risky?

Saw a chap on a bike pulling a small child along in one of these today.

Surely if children have to be in car seats when travelling in cars then perhaps you shouldn't be allowed to pull little ones around in canvas trolleys on busy roads???

the tricycles are probably the safest looking but they re expensive?

I live right near a cycle track which goes to almost to my workplace - it would be fab to take my 18 month old DS to nursery on a bike but I am too scared. And there's always muggings on the cycle track because the junkies can hang out there safe from the police.

agree that they look unsafe if using on the road in traffic but my main problem with them being used on the roads is the child is pretty much level with exhaust pipes & wonder how much crap they're breathing in?

but riven, the cyclist is up higher where the fumes are a bit more diluted etc same with pedestrians but these trailers are down low level with the fumes coming straight out?
i think they look great for getting about in countryside, quieter roads etc but wouldn't want to use one on a busy road myself.

Riven, they're not. Don't most drivers switch off aircon and recycle car air when in a traffic jam? I know I do.

It does smell worse down by the exhaust pipes than up on a bicycle saddle or in a car though. So surely it is worse.
(It's something I notice when toddlers in buggies are pushed out between the traffic for crossing the road too - it just does seem more toxic down there).

I can't imagine there is much difference between a kid breathing at the level the trailers are and a kid walking along the footpath. Perhaps if car drivers are so concerned about it they could drive less?

We have one, but would never, ever dream of using it on the road. We use it on woodland trails etc, but wouldn't trust other drivers to be careful enough.

Brahms: "I get scared watching toddlers strapped onto the back of bikes in those seats, their little heads bobbing about in a vulnerable fashion." If the child's head is bobbing about it's because they're toddlers and so haven't learned to hold their necks stiff. Doesn't make them actually any more vulnerable than if their head is held still. This is a classic example of what I mean by non-cyclists relying on their imagination to feed their knowledge.

Riven: "Roads are for transport and that is bicycles too. Drivers should be considerate of other road users." Too bloody right. Many drivers assume that they're the only ones with a right to travel on the roads. Now that's a dangerous belief about road use.

Interesting info you've presented about pollution, though.

Fernie3 - there's a dad who cycles in the area I used to live in, with his daughter on the front and neither of them has a helmet. I've cycled in cities for 15 years and would never go without a helmet myself, let alone not put one on my child. It ought to be illegal.

LittleRedDragon - you're absolutely right that cyclists should know and abide by the rules of the road, and it also annoys the hell out of me when any cyclists flout them. Having said that, I used to find in London that when I was the only vehicle at a zebra crossing and stopped for pedestrians, they would laugh as if they thought there was no need for me to stop. Can't win!

Riven - yikes, had no idea that problems like your DD's would prevent someone from wearing a helmet.

Re that study, I am a bit about this. IME the rule breakers take more risks, and appear to think less about whether other drivers can see them. That in itself is very dangerous.

You can still make sure you're way ahead of red lights without going over the crossing when it's not your right of way, in order to make sure you're clearly visible - I do this all the time and am prepared to challenge any police officer who tries to suggest that I shouldn't have inched my way out of danger.

The way you've described drivers in your area sounds like where I used to live. Bloody maniacs.

In response to ShowOfHands, you might want to check out Weehoo's new iGo pedal trailer - designed for younger kids who are too big for a Burley "chariot" type trailet, but who might doze off on a traditional trailer bike. www.weehoo.co.uk

I was once riding one of these with my baby nephew inside the trailer. As I was crossing past a junction (where I had right of way), the car pulling out did not see the trailer. She just went straight into it.

The trailer was broken, but the baby was safe and totally uninjured.

They are much stronger than they look.

And I have used these trailers (and later a triple tandem thing) with my two children for years (cycling literally everywhere on the roads) because we are carless. We have never ever been in an accident. Could just be lucky, but also I thihnk that drivers give yuo a wide berth when they see you have children at the back.

Another thing I'm not sure about, I''m older, so out of touch! The pushchairs, with one child, usually the baby is underneath, usually only a few inches off the ground.Also, they cant see anything.

yanbu. I feel sick whenever I see one.

Fine if they are on the path (I am pro sensible cycling on paths). But heaven knows why parents want to risk it on the roads, there are too many stupid drivers out there. The whole carriage is one giant crumple zone with a kid in the middle.

My husband is a very keen cyclist and has intoduced our small child to cycling since she was 2 1/2.
She lost her stabalisers at 3; and started cycling (3+ miles at 4; just about every evening since)

He wouldn't ever consider one of those trailer things ("DEATH TRAPS").
Nor would he let me have a child carrier on the front of my bike.

Riven. "Roads are for transport and that is bicycles too". Entireley agree.

But the reality is, that my Husband, a cyclist of 40 + years had 9 rib fractures at Xmas. Not because of his negligence; but another's. Drivers should be considerate of other road users; but the reality is that they're not.

And because they're not, you don't use a child for an experiment.

I entirely concur with the principle, but not the practicality.

So no. I wouldn't take a child in either a bike seat or a trailer on the road.

We've used a disused rail line for practice with my daughter for about 10 years.

I have driven all sorts of cars, and all sorts of motorbikes including supersports in several countries, such as Egypt and Russia and India. I have an advanced license and love cars and bikes and have a fairly high risk profile (ie I used to ride a sportsbike to work in Singapore in a t-shirt)

I have also cycled to work for a few years in central London and Singapore -- in the rush hour from SE London to Canary Wharf for example.

I have been lucky in that apart from a few minor spills I have never had an accident as a cyclist or motorist.

I would have serious reservations taking a child on a bike, whether on the back of a bike or on a trailer. Actually I have serious reservations riding a bike full-stop in London or another major city.

It is partly down to the stupidity and inattention of either the motorist or the cyclist. But often it is simply down to the incompatibilty of nippier vehicles and slower bikes being in traffic at the same time.

Having been on both sides I just don't feel that safe, that visible, or that able to nip out of danger on a push bike. And so I don't feel comfortable placing a child in that situation.

That said, I'm talking about central London here and every week it seems I read of some mother having been taken out on a bike.

I agree about central London. I live in Oxford and there are probably as many bike/trailer arrangements on the roads as cars at some times of day as most of the big employers don't allow car parking at work exept for abnorml shifts. I've never seen or heard of any problems.

I used to cycle in Oxford and that was fine, partly because of the Park & Ride, partly because the ratio of bikes and cars was much more even. Motorists expected bikes and inexpertly ridden ones at that which made it safer. That said, they got regularly taken out. Someone at college I knew was killed this way.