Are these tow trailers really safe in the dark?

[Kudoscycles]

That's the USA Dave, they shoot children there.

We're a little bit different, especially where road accident rates are concerned.
.

Flecc,not like you to throw in an irrelevant red herring.
The road system in USA and Canada is if anything more safety minded than our tight situation here in the UK,I believe these trailers are very numerate in Canada so inevitably there are more incidents reported from there.
In the UK I must be honest and admit they are very rare. In Holland,with its independent cycle tracks, and in the UK on promenades I can see they must be good fun but on the road in the UK with our traffic density and so many badly lit roads they are just so vulnerable.
Dave
Kudoscycles

 

[hech]

"The cyclist and the child were taken to a Portland hospital. Police described their injuries as non-traumatic. "

Is this Portland, Oregon we're talking here? Sometimes I wonder why people choose to live in areas so densely populated they forgo some of the most basic human liberties others take for granted.
If someone runs their car off the road or into another's then they should be charged with careless/dangerous driving whether there are drink or drugs involved or not. There are far too many people with cars driving far too much - the use of bikes and trailers despite the evident risk must be encouraged.

 

[funkylyn]

I agree with Jeremy on this one, it's important to bear in mind all the factors. As a long time trailer user I've always found drivers keep far more clear when I'm towing than when riding solo, passing well wide of me. And that's just with goods trailers, so I'm sure they'd take even more care with kiddy ones.

I'm sure such a collision would be very widely reported, but I've never heard of one happening.

With all due respect flecc, Im sure 'most' car drivers DO pay attention when they approach a bike towing a bike trailer, the fact remains that you cant compare you pulling a trailer with goods on board or taking recycling stuff to wherever, with having young children in your trailer on the road in traffic.....the consequences of an accident are way more far reaching and potentially traumatic when children are involved.

You being 'sure' they would take more care when children are involved quite frankly means nothing, all we are saying is the consequences and risk involved just isnt worth taking with our childrens lives at stake.

If I had young children now I would prefer not to put them to any extra risk by 'presuming' that the car driver behind my bike trailer was paying all due attention.......their safety would be MY responsibility not relying on some stranger driving behind me.

Jeremy.....you really cannot compare it to pushing children in a buggy on a pavement......and those mothers who push their buggies out into the road without sometimes looking properly are just as guilty of putting their children at unnecessary risk.

I just feel that where children are involved we should do our very best to lesson the risks that always exist in life, not increase the odds.

When I watch my daughter in law putting her boys into their super duper car safety seats I still shudder when I remember that there were no such things when my older kids were young.....they were in a carry cot on the back seat for gods sake

I, or rather, THEY got lucky...thank god !

Lynda

 

[amigafan2003]

I actually feel sorry for your grandchildren.

Let's hope for your sanity their parents never take them canoeing, rock climbing, snowboarding etc which are all statistically more dangerous than travelling in a trailer.

 

[Kudoscycles]

What I am about to post is probably not best supportive of my industry but respect it is my own personal views,I am somewhat lucky that KudosCycles is as much a hobby rather than my sole earning business,this gives me the advantage that I can be honest in my postings.
I live in Canterbury and work in Whitstable,there is a quick road through the forests betwen those 2 towns,the road is unlit with straight bits and fastish bends,there are no pavements and short sharp hills,a typical UK A-road. On my way home I travel at about 50mph,normal for the traffic flow.
Several times on that route I come across a cyclist who is riding at 5 mph trying to get up one of the hills,there is usually a line of traffic looking for an opportunity to pass the bike-everyone has to take some risk in getting past. Its usually a choice between waiting ages or making a third middle lane,passing as close as you dare to the cyclist to avoid hitting the vehicle coming the other way.
The poor cyclist has to endure this stress virtually the whole of that route,realistically there is no other alternative route.
I am so tempted to ride one of our Kudos bikes home and at least I would probably be going up the hills quicker so the relative speed would be safer.
But I must be honest and say the risk is too great.
Cycling on Sunday morning or on promenades or on routes where you have dedicated cycle lanes is great fun and I love it but for normal UK A-road usage its just too risky in the UK.
Dave
Kudoscycles

 

[Old_Dave]

We are all responsible for our own risk assessments (although some times I do wonder, wot with the ambulance chasing solicitors and it always being some one elses fault mentality)

I personally am not happy with it and wouldn't but respect and defend the right of the peeps that are.

 

[banbury frank]

Hi My comment is I always give priority on roads to Kids Bikes both UN powered and powers IE Motorbikes Pets and horses


I am sitting in a metal box for protection They have NO protection so deserve the best we can give. As they are VULNERABLE and it should be our aim in life to give help to the vulnerable in society on or off the road

Frank

 

[Kudoscycles]

I actually feel sorry for your grandchildren.

Let's hope for your sanity their parents never take them canoeing, rock climbing, snowboarding etc which are all statistically more dangerous than travelling in a trailer.

I hope my children and grandchildren take up whatever pursuit they wish and within reason I would be supportive of it. But the point is that is their choice.
My son is by the way a Ryanair pilot,only 24 years old, but his training contains considerable time devoted to risk assessment decisions-with the lives of 190 people dependent upon those decisions I am sure we would all be supportive that he gets those decisions right,I value his judgement. He was in the car with me when we saw that trailer with the kiddy inside,his comment 'what idiot would put a kid at such risk!'
Dave
Kudoscycles

 

[amigafan2003]

Oh, and in response to finding stories about injuries in trailer and then stating the you can't compare pushing buggies to towing a child in a trailer as obvioulsy to most people with an ounce of common sense the allter is way more dangerous:-

BBC News - Boy dies after being hit by empty car in Dundonald

but for normal UK A-road usage its just too risky in the UK.

Sounds like you've bought into the media portrayal of cycling being inherently unsafe and dangerous - which is a great shame :-(

 

[grldtnr]

Hmmmm! ,

a very emotive posting this.

here's my thoughts,there are some folk who for them the green issue is very strong, towing a trailer with kiddies aboard around town & country for them far outweighs the damage done to the environment than the perceived danger of putting them in a trailer.

one possibility is to use a converted Trike, 2 seats on the back instead of a trailer makes for a more compact package on the road, to my mind ,that would be safer than a kidddie trailer.

As to recumbents, I still have mine, used to ride regularly on the street out into the countryside , I never found it a problem being seen by others , in fact it seemed more visible, because it is unusual,but i always picked my route well when riding it on the road,hardly ever in dense city traffic, and always ridden defensively.

The same can be said about trailers and 'live 'cargo, but I am not a parent so do not have the inbuilt instinct to protect my offspring




1

 

[flecc]

Flecc,not like you to throw in an irrelevant red herring.
The road system in USA and Canada is if anything more safety minded than our tight situation here in the UK

It's not the mindedness but the results that count Dave.

Road deaths per 100,000 of population:

UK = 3.59

USA = 12.3

All their road accident rates have always been a large multiple of ours, so comparisons with the USA are the irrelevant ones. Both countries have been continuously improving, but the performance gap remains stubbornly in place.

 

[funkylyn]

I actually feel sorry for your grandchildren.

Let's hope for your sanity their parents never take them canoeing, rock climbing, snowboarding etc which are all statistically more dangerous than travelling in a trailer.

Dont be ridiculous Amigafan, no need to feel sorry for my grandchildren, they live a free and easy life in Spain, cycling around their land (they are only 3 and 5 ) on their own, climbing the steep hills, falling down them, getting grazed legs etc etc and go for bike rides with their parents in front mounted seats enjoying the countryside and wildlife....off road.

When they are old enough and have a desire to do more extreme sports they will be encouraged, what we have been talking about here is just an unnecessary risk in the back of a bike trailer in traffic.

None of my family have ever been the 'wrap kids up in cotton wool' types.....and nor have I.....although I admit my spanish daughter in law has tended to be a bit like that, because thats generally how spanish mothers are, however my son has modified her instincts to allow their sons more freedom.

I am well aware that they could just as easily be involved in a bad car/plane crash but they are risks we all HAVE to take in normal daily life.

My point was that bike trailers, in my opinion, are just an extra unnecessary risk.......but I defend to the end your right to lead your life and take risks the way you see fit and I understand what you are trying to say, its just, as I said before I think they look SO vulnerable in those trailers and they are SO precious and at a young age.....totally dependant on US to protect them.......being a parent entails making good judgements and trying to protect our children whilst allowing them freedom......its always been a balancing act and always will be.

Lynda

 

[flecc]

My point was that bike trailers, in my opinion, are just an extra unnecessary risk......

There are large numbers of these child trailers in use in Britain. Point me to one collision ever in Britain of a vehicle with a child carried in a trailer. No? Then how is this any more an unnecessary risk than any of the other things you mention which you are happy for children to indulge in. For those there are numerous accident and sometimes even death statistics.

 

[Jeremy]

As with many things the risk is going to depend more on the environment than on the object in question. The busy (rural) junction outside my house is a good example. The lady with the kids in the bike trailer rides along a lane towards the junction in the mornings and turns left to the school. The idiotic mothers pushing buggies etc out in front of traffic cross right at the junction (usually going diagonally over it) because there is only pavement on one side of the lane. In this case the bike trailer wins hands down in terms of safety.

Another traffic scenario might well turn the tables on this risk assessment, for example I can see the potential hazard of a low trailer with no mast or flag being run over in busy stop-start city traffic, where drivers inevitably seem to be somewhat impatient or distracted. By the same token, any mother pushing a buggy across such city traffic would also be taking a much greater risk:

 

[amigafan2003]

I am well aware that they could just as easily be involved in a bad car/plane crash but they are risks we all HAVE to take in normal daily life.

So tell me Lynn, when I want to take the kids to the estuary country park that's 4 miles away, exactly how should I transport them there, seeing as I don't have a car that I can transport 5 people in?

 

[flecc]

Hmmmm! ,

a very emotive posting this.

That's because it's really the old helmet wearing subjects again, in disguise!

The desire for zero risk versus acceptable risks argument.

 

[Old_Dave]

Not forgetting to add 'minimising' into the equation, when it has to be done..lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[amigafan2003]

The desire for zero risk versus acceptable risks argument.

Bang on.

I think the thread can stop right at that statement.

 

[funkylyn]

There are large numbers of these child trailers in use in Britain. Point me to one collision ever in Britain of a vehicle with a child carried in a trailer. No? Then how is this any more an unnecessary risk than any of the other things you mention which you are happy for children to indulge in. For those there are numerous accident and sometimes even death statistics.

The point for me flecc is that they LOOK, and in my opinion ARE, more vulnerable and I personally wouldnt want to put any child in that vulnerable position.

As for a desire for zero risk....NO thats not what I want, mean or accept....its patently unattainable.

Amigafan....in answer to your question....bus maybe ?
I dont know if thats possible but you have every right to continue putting your children in a bike trailer whilst onroad if thats an acceptable practice for you, Im only saying it wouldnt be an option for me that I would be happy with.

To each their own, but promise me, when out cycling with your children, you will keep more of a look out for traffic than admiring your wifes a***

Lynda

 

[Jeremy]

It is indeed the age-old problem of debates like this often ignoring the true risk and using emotively-expressed variations on perceived risk to make a point.

In many respects it's no different to the irrational view many have of other risks. For example, one of the most dangerous activities young people and children can do is ride horses and ponies. The death and injury risk is on a par with riding a motorcycle on the roads, I believe. Yet thousands of parents up and down the land encourage their children to indulge in this activity, and at the same time would condemn riding a motorcycle as being far too dangerous.

Logic doesn't come into it, I'm afraid.