Child Carriers: the new bike safety device
Rhino of www.urbanseedaz.blogspot.com sent me an interesting observation the other day. He and his family live considerably more car-free than most and he has a child-trailer to haul around his daughter Nakai, though he says he only does so when he can use particularly safe routes to get where he’s going.
Sometimes, though, he takes the bike and its trailer out for a spin sans-daughter, and this is where he has noticed that drivers give him considerably more room than when he’s riding without the trailer. He even has ridden with friends who have been grazed by a car that then swerves wildly out of the way when it comes upon Rhino and his (empty) kid’s trailer.
Which leads me to wonder: could it be that hauling an empty kid’s trailer around does more for you than wearing a helmet? Should those newspaper articles that invariably state, after informing us of some poor soul who has been squashed by a cement truck, that “the cyclist was not wearing a helmet” instead say “the cyclist was not pulling an empty child’s trailer”? Should municipalities pass laws requiring us to pull empty child’s trailers behind us at all times?
By the way, Rhino’s blog has a great post today about bicycles made of rattan!
–Erik Ryberg
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:32 am
I do so love that idea. here’s what I found – cars tend to give me wider bertgh when I ride at nighht (with a light) than in the daytime (usually without). You may find this article of interest: http://rogerowengreen.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-to-ride-bicycle-in-city.html (Sept 16, 2007, in case the address cuts off)
May 4th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Prefer to use safe Child Carriers…