Comments on: Please do not shout at my bicycle

By: Dear Driver Passing My Bicycle: Shut Up | Strollerderby

Dear Driver Passing My Bicycle: Shut Up | Strollerderby — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:01:04 +0000

[...] wish it were feasible to print up little copies of this post over at ChildWild and toss them into the windows of cars with drivers like [...]

By: Sierra

Sierra — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:48:45 +0000

That is a good summation of what our doctor said as well, and the bike mechanics I talked with.

By: Julia Magnusson

Julia Magnusson — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:53:54 +0000

I asked my pediatrician about all of this (we just got a trailer). He said, “Ultimately, you’re modeling good, healthy, active behavior by biking with your kids [whether in trailer or seat].” [That's an approximate quote, BTW.] He said as long as the parent is alert and bikes defensively, it should be OK.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 22:34:35 +0000

Came here via Free Range Kids too. Can’t believe that first comment.

I love your letter to Concerned Citizens. People do need to learn that they don’t need to criticize everyone else’s parenting skills.

By: Casey

Casey — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:40:39 +0000

Hahaha, when I go for a bike ride, I just leave my kids in the car. Just kidding (referring to a FRK post). I hope to ride my bike with my daughter often…just as I’d like to canoe with her, and teach her to climb cliffs (and sometimes jump off). I will make sure she feels comfortable with the risks she takes and that she knows her limits, but I hope to avoid being constantly afraid for her safety. It’s scary to think about what the world could look like in even 10 years if nobody will even ride a bike. I am thankful though to live in a city with a trail for walking/biking/rollerblading…near the river. There are not many people on bikes on the roads her (in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) and we have some of the most terrible drivers, so I like to stick to the paved trails.

By: Nicola

Nicola — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 02:28:04 +0000

Ah, people like Jane just make me wish you could zap them from the sky each time they pass judgment on others.

I can’t say I was comfortable enough to take my kids in a trailer, but I never would yell at someone for doing so with their kids. The audacity some people have just makes you wonder where THEIR parents were when they needed to be taught manners.

By: Sierra

Sierra — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:28:37 +0000

We bought our Burley D’Lite used too, and love it. My older daughter also has a trail-a-bike (which I think is the brand name as well as a good descriptor of the thing? it was a gift). She LOVES her trail-a-bike, but I prefer the trailer because the trail-a-bike throws my center of balance off. My husband, on the other hand, prefers the trail-a-bike, and will be using it to commute to school with her next year when she starts kindergarten at the lab school at his university.

The helmet issue did come up but I skimmed those posts without really reading them. I was run over by a car in a freak accident a few years ago, one of those rare moments where having a properly fitted bike helmet on actually did save my life – the helmet cracked in half instead of my skull. I know the data on helmets is totally mixed, but after that I got religion about wearing them, and putting them on people I love – of all ages.

By: Rich Wilson

Rich Wilson — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:22:01 +0000

I bought my Burley Solo used from someone who commuted 10 miles with it 5 days a week. It had a little damage on one side, and the mom said “ya, that’s where they (dad and son) took a corner too fast and it went over on its side. Son thought it was a blast.”

I have no research to prove it, but I do have 35 years of biking experience. I firmly believe trailers are much safer than seats. And pretty soon I’ll put him on the tag-along.

I’m curious if the ‘helmet’ issue came up. My son wears his helmet in the trailer, but I consider it a habit, not a real safety thing. And nothing bugs me more than watching helmeted kids riding with helmetless parents. Whatever you think about helmets, if they’re good for kids, they’re good for adults. I don’t think most adults are any better bike handlers than most kids. And adults have farther to fall.

By: Sierra

Sierra — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:30:35 +0000

thanks. we just got into a HUGE debate about this on my local moms list this week, which seems to have been kicked off by someone saying that she chose a bike seat for her kid because trailers seem so dangerous – I think it’s a common misconception, but the (admittedly slim) available data suggests that trailers are the way to go if safety is your main concern.

that said, of course the really key thing is to ride safely. no seat or trailer will keep your kid safe in a full-speed, direct-impact with a car. I posted more recently – here: http://childwild.com/2009/06/04/go-play-in-traffic-bicycle-safety-on-busy-roads/ – about safe riding practices. some interesting new information I’ve found since then is that as the percentage of people riding bikes in a given population goes up, the liklihood of accidents between bikes and cars goes down. So we make the streets safer for everyone when we get out there on our bikes!

By: Jen

Jen — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:06:50 +0000

I’m also from over at Free Range Kids and wanted to lend you some support. We have a bike trailer for Gabe as we were told it’s safer for him than if he was in one of the bike seats behind my huband while he’s riding. We don’t take him out often but when we do we’re very very careful. Driving defensively AND behaving like a vehicle on the road should seems like the best course of action.