Parents and kids on bikes !

nicensleazy

Whilst riding home today after my run out, I noticed up ahead this guy with two kids on a busy A road. Cars were wizzing past them at around 50/60mph. The children were around 7 or 8. The little girl was weeving around on the road. No helmets and no real supervision. It really was an accident waiting to happen. I had a few choice words for the guy who just seemed oblivious to the danger they were in. :x

downfader

nicensleazy wrote:

Whilst riding home today after my run out, I noticed up ahead this guy with two kids on a busy A road. Cars were wizzing past them at around 50/60mph. The children were around 7 or 8. The little girl was weeving around on the road. No helmets and no real supervision. It really was an accident waiting to happen. I had a few choice words for the guy who just seemed oblivious to the danger they were in. :x

Well.. helmet aint gonna help the kiddies at 50mph, mate. :?

Any pavement, alternative routes? Over here I see a few parents riding on the pavements with their kids next to the rougher, faster roads.

White Line

I too seen a woman out with her kids. All wearing helmets mind. And it was on a random B road. Although, the only place they could have went within the next 500m was a rather busy bypass. The little girl, who must have been about tenish, was wobbling all over the place.

Loads of parents out with their kids today. Some guy and his son pulled out of their driveway without looking just as I was going past. A brick was most definitely shat.

Stupid sunny weather. :roll:

nicensleazy

No pavements!

postman

Funnily enough i went out with my 12 yearold today .Like you say loads of parents .We both rode pavements .I am recovering from knee surgery .I go to Harrogate Hospital tomorrow .Hence the tester today .

And then we went off road into woodland and park trails .

I too was surprised at the lack of road sense .By well meaning parents .
But it is at least a start .

pst88

Saw a parent riding along with one of those single wheel child trailers on the back, riding along a 40 mph dual carriageway. Child wheel was at about 70 degrees to the road as opposed to the traditional 90 degrees, clinging on for dear life. She had a helmet on but it was so poorly fitting it would be of no use. I think that's really irresponsible of the parent to but the daughter in danger like that. I was driving at the time (cos I'm lazy), considered trying to say something but didn't really have the chance to.

Ben6899

It's great to see parents taking the kids out for exercise, but I agree some don't appear to be acting responsibly with regards to the safety of the little 'uns. I recall when I was knee high to a grass hopper, my dad used to take me offroading away from the busy roads and I was probably nearer 11/12 by the time we hit the roads.

Even now he has a go at me for riding two a breast (me nearest to the white line) when we're out on the road bikes so it beggars belief when I see 8yr olds weaving about on A roads.

And it's even worse when they're BEHIND their parents so the parents have no idea what is happening or how they're coping. They could be on the wheel, 50yds behind, 250yds behind, in the ditch or squashed and the dosy parent wouldn't have any idea!

shouldbeinbed

downfader wrote:

nicensleazy wrote:

Whilst riding home today after my run out, I noticed up ahead this guy with two kids on a busy A road. Cars were wizzing past them at around 50/60mph. The children were around 7 or 8. The little girl was weeving around on the road. No helmets and no real supervision. It really was an accident waiting to happen. I had a few choice words for the guy who just seemed oblivious to the danger they were in. :x

Well.. helmet aint gonna help the kiddies at 50mph, mate. :?

.

here we go again, not at 50mph obviously, did nicensleazy say that? :roll: but if they get spooked by a car and wobble off, a helmet will help cushion the low speed head to ground impact and could well save the psychological off putting effects that a nasty bleed would cause. We all know that heads bleed more than the injury suggests and all parents know theres nothing that makes a child flap more than the sight of their own blood. A silly incident like that without head protection could put the child off riding a bike forever whereas a helmeted crash would have been a playground story when the schools go back.

You don't need to be hit by a car to be affected by it enough to drop a bike especially if you're little, not confident and poorly trained as it sounds here.

stage_fright

I am always surprised by the amount of parenst who cycle in front of their offspring - personally, I want to be able to see my kids at all times and tend to almost talk them throught the ride at first.

A sight you often see is dad at front, two kids spaced out behind, and poor mum on her bso desperatly trying to keep up behind.

LittleB0b

Is this a thread, on a cyling forum, moaning about people taking children cycling?

Ben6899

LittleB0b wrote:

Is this a thread, on a cyling forum, moaning about people taking children cycling?

No. And if you read the posts, you'll realise that.

downfader

shouldbeinbed wrote:

downfader wrote:

nicensleazy wrote:

Whilst riding home today after my run out, I noticed up ahead this guy with two kids on a busy A road. Cars were wizzing past them at around 50/60mph. The children were around 7 or 8. The little girl was weeving around on the road. No helmets and no real supervision. It really was an accident waiting to happen. I had a few choice words for the guy who just seemed oblivious to the danger they were in. :x

Well.. helmet aint gonna help the kiddies at 50mph, mate. :?

.

here we go again, not at 50mph obviously, did nicensleazy say that? :roll: but if they get spooked by a car and wobble off, a helmet will help cushion the low speed head to ground impact and could well save the psychological off putting effects that a nasty bleed would cause. We all know that heads bleed more than the injury suggests and all parents know theres nothing that makes a child flap more than the sight of their own blood. A silly incident like that without head protection could put the child off riding a bike forever whereas a helmeted crash would have been a playground story when the schools go back.

You don't need to be hit by a car to be affected by it enough to drop a bike especially if you're little, not confident and poorly trained as it sounds here.

Thats not what I meant and you know it. Honestly. The danger there is a child goes over and ends up under someones wheels, or they get clipped and we have another Marie Vesco (was it?)

rake

nicensleazy wrote:

No pavements!

? (kids are allowed to ride on pavements)

nickwill

rake wrote:

nicensleazy wrote:

No pavements!

? (kids are allowed to ride on pavements)

I'm under the impression that that is a bit of a myth!

SteppenHerring

Well, I sometimes take my son (10) out to the quieter lanes. It feels stupid putting the bikes on the car and driving somewhere, but there aren't even rideable pavements next to the dual carriageway. It's allegedly a 40 limit but I often get wingmirrors shaving my arm at 60mph.

He's pretty steady but I tend to ride behind him and slightly further out. Not sure I'm going to slow down a blacked-out range rover much before it hits him, but hey. On the smaller roads, people don't tend to be quite such c0cks when they see it's a small.

A while ago he decided he much preferred road to off-road (that could be something to do with his "off-road bike" is a BSO his grandparents bought that probably weighs half as much as he does. Also, I figure he likes being able to trundle along at 15 mph (on the flat).

northernneil

postman wrote:

Funnily enough i went out with my 12 yearold today .Like you say loads of parents .We both rode pavements .I am recovering from knee surgery .I go to Harrogate Hospital tomorrow .Hence the tester today .
.

if you are that way there is a fantastic cycle path from spofforth to the thorpe arch trading estate 100% flat 99% car free. (you can get off and walk across the main road in wetherby).

we take kids there all the time - you can even have an ice cream and play on the pirate ship / play ground at the estate

shouldbeinbed

downfader wrote:

shouldbeinbed wrote:

downfader wrote:

nicensleazy wrote:

Whilst riding home today after my run out, I noticed up ahead this guy with two kids on a busy A road. Cars were wizzing past them at around 50/60mph. The children were around 7 or 8. The little girl was weeving around on the road. No helmets and no real supervision. It really was an accident waiting to happen. I had a few choice words for the guy who just seemed oblivious to the danger they were in. :x

Well.. helmet aint gonna help the kiddies at 50mph, mate. :?

.

here we go again, not at 50mph obviously, did nicensleazy say that? :roll: but if they get spooked by a car and wobble off, a helmet will help cushion the low speed head to ground impact and could well save the psychological off putting effects that a nasty bleed would cause. We all know that heads bleed more than the injury suggests and all parents know theres nothing that makes a child flap more than the sight of their own blood. A silly incident like that without head protection could put the child off riding a bike forever whereas a helmeted crash would have been a playground story when the schools go back.

You don't need to be hit by a car to be affected by it enough to drop a bike especially if you're little, not confident and poorly trained as it sounds here.

Thats not what I meant and you know it. Honestly. The danger there is a child goes over and ends up under someones wheels, or they get clipped and we have another Marie Vesco (was it?)

yeah I know theres 2 sides to the story, I had a heck of a job getting mine to wear helmets because they just argued a car won't hit them if they ride sensibly (go figure - the invulnerability of youth) until one of them fell over whilst parked leaning on a park bench :roll: (funny tho). I completely get the fact we're wearing a chunk of polystyrene and nothing more, but the majority of my offs, and all of the kids ones, have not involved vhicle collisions and have often seen a scraped helmet (oo er) that would otherwise have been a bang or gash to the head. I do get annoyed that the anti helmet brigade focus so heavily on thankfully rare vehicular collisions and not the bread and butter (esp as a kid) wobbles, unexpected slippery bits and surprise pot holes that cause a quick low speed off and a bang on the side of the head where a helmet does help mitigate the injury.

this guy does seem to be very cavalier with his kids lives though, shame it's more likely to take your scenario than mine to make him realise that.

Richard_D

Me and the other half started wearing helmets before our kids were born. Initially because we were off roading but when they started on the child seats on the back of our bikes we all helmeted up . That was as much to do with them being clipped by us getting on and off and slow speed tumbles. However since then it has been habit for all of us and one we have no intention of breaking. A few family incidences have reinforced it. My nephew was clipped by a car whilst out on his bike and head butted the kerb. The Paramedic who attended basically said that without a helmet he would have been hospitalised rather than getting a lift home and the other was a minor one last weekend cycling down a country line my head impacted with a low branch. Instead of getting bashed and bruised and maybe knocked off the bike it just clattered off my helmet.