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Original poster

Difference of opinion

33 replies

handlemecarefully · 22/02/2004 17:18

Esteemed fellow mumsnetters,

Perhaps you can help settle an argument between dh and I....I shall write this as neutrally as posssible so you can't tell which 'camp' I am in....

Here goes: the plan (by one party) was to take 19 month old dd on her trike (she can't pedal it herself, but is strapped on and pushed by an adult) for a little ride near our house. We live in a rural location and planned route was down a country road with no pavements. Said road is not particularly busy, but vehicles that do use it sometimes exceed the 40 mph speed limit, doing 50mph-ish. However the road is quite straight and visibility is reasonably good.

Is this safe? - or would you stick to a road with pavements. Is the person who objected to this ridiculously over cautious / OTT?, or by contrast is the person who proposed this lacking in basic common sense?

Should we get divorced ? (just joking on the last one)

OP posts:
Original poster
handlemecarefully · 22/02/2004 17:20

In the interests of balance I should point out that I don't know for certain that those who exceed the speed limit down this road are doing 50 mph-ish, it's just a guess.

OP posts:
hana · 22/02/2004 17:22

i would stick to pavements myself. You never know how fast the cars are going. Can you not put it into the boot of the car and drive to a park with paths? Or go round and round your back garden?
I think I'll be in the minority here....

twiglett · 22/02/2004 17:22

message withdrawn

Original poster
handlemecarefully · 22/02/2004 17:25

Ahem, I shall not be declaring my hand as yet!

And I'm not telling you if you are warm or cold. Will reveal all tomorrow.....

OP posts:
spacemonkey · 22/02/2004 17:27

I would avoid the unpavemented road as well I think. Unless it's completely straight so any traffic can be seen from a long way off even if it's travelling fast and there are grass verges to take refuge on.

marialuisa · 22/02/2004 17:28

Being a country girl suspect that I would take her on the road BUT walk in the middle. I'm assuming that the road is single lane width and that there are verges of some kind though.

Hulababy · 22/02/2004 17:28

Personally I thinked I'd stick to the pavements too.

suedonim · 22/02/2004 17:36

I live in the country and the footpath runs out just up from my house! I'm not at all sure I would take a child on a trike, tbh. If parent and child are both walking then if the unspeakable did happen, you can at least grab the child and throw them out of danger, but that wouldn't be so easy on a trike. Otoh, we have bendy roads, so maybe a straight road would be different. Also depends on the definition of a quiet road. One car an hour or one every five minutes etc? Whatever, I don't think I'd find it very relaxing or enjoyable.

ponygirl · 22/02/2004 17:40

I'd stay on pavements - if a car comes along at any speed you haven't got long to move a trike. Even on a straight road, a driver might see the adult, but not a child on a trike. I am probably influenced by stupid drivers in the lanes round me, though!

marialuisa · 22/02/2004 17:42

I'm obviously more of a kamikaze mum than I thought!

Davros · 22/02/2004 17:57

If you live in the country, why would you want to take her down a road? Couldn't you all go for a lovely walk in the woods/whatever?

Original poster
handlemecarefully · 22/02/2004 17:57

Good question about how quiet the road is - probably at least one car every 3-4 minutes

OP posts:
Original poster
handlemecarefully · 22/02/2004 17:58

Davros

Good point - but you have to go down that road to get to woods.....

OP posts:
zebra · 22/02/2004 18:03

Given the DD is strapped in, and cars only come every 3-4 minutes, which you can hear or see in plenty time, I think I'd be ok about going on the road, keeping to right side, of course! It'd be different if she could easily jump off & run away.

Davros · 22/02/2004 18:06

I suppose you could offer a compromise and zoom down that road (that HE wants to go on) to get to the woods where HE has to carry the trike

marialuisa · 22/02/2004 18:10

ok, wouldn't class a car every 3-4 mins as quiet. wouldn't take a trike in my dad's woods either though.

lyndsey66 · 22/02/2004 18:10

Have to say this - one of my friends at school was killed crossing a zebra crossing on what is considered a 'quiet road', so I am a bit biased - I think that with a child it is easy to get distracted and I would not take the chance of going on a road without a pavement.
Even though it is highly unlikely that you wouldn't see a car coming on a straight country road I just dont think it is worth the chance.

crystaltips · 22/02/2004 18:23

We have a quiet country road, and I wouldn't let any of my lot walk or cycle down it .... full stop ...

Guess he needs to back down on this one !

suzywong · 22/02/2004 18:24

Did the first party whose idea it was have a Y chromosone by any chance?

SenoraPostrophe · 22/02/2004 18:31

I have to say I don't really see the problem as long as the adult is alert to noises etc. Don't think it's OTT to insist on pavements either though.

Mind you, it's just as well I feel like that given the lack of useable pavements round here.

roisin · 22/02/2004 18:45

I'm impressed HMC: from your posts I really can't tell which camp you're in: Well done!

If there is an option of a road with pavements, I would personally stick to the pavements. But I don't find the scenario you've described as being dangerously unsafe. As an accompanying adult I personally would find it quite stressful.

SofiaAmes · 22/02/2004 22:14

I would absolutely stick to pavements. If a driver glances down/sneezes/etc. at 40mph they could hit you before they see you.

lydialemon · 22/02/2004 22:27

If going down that road was to get somewhere nice, and the only route, then I would do it, but not 'ambling' along. If there was no pressing reason to go down that road, then no - I'd rather go somewhere safer.

Personally, I always take my lot to the park to use their bikes. I don't like bikes on pavements TBH, but trikes with handles don't exactly count

tigermoth · 23/02/2004 07:39

I agree with lydiamums - if going down the road was really the only choice, I'd do it but be extremely careful and watchful. I certainly wouldn't do it for fun.

My fear would be that my child might wriggle out of the straps or fall out of the bike in some way. It would then take several seconds to get hold of them - a huge risk if fast moving cars brush past. My sons were both energetic wrigglers at toddlers, and putting them on a bike with a handle that you hold was an absolute no no. I have seen lots of parents having no probs with this, so it obviously depends on the child.

Clarinet60 · 23/02/2004 11:12

Here I go with my horror stories again, but this is true. A baby in a pram was killed on a road like this a couple of miles from here. All our roads are like this, so if I want them to use a vehicle (pram or trike) I drive to a pavement. It depends how nifty you are picking her up and putting her in the verge. I take ds2 for walks on our unpavemented lanes, but lift him up and stand in the verge every time a car goes by. Then again, it sounds like you have more visibility on your road.