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I use a bike trailer to tow my children. I take them to and from a playground, which is around a 30 minute ride in each direction.
It is 90% greenway, with some sleepy 2-lane connector roads. While I am of course an incredible pedal pumping engine capable of incredible feats, I average only around 12 mph.
The bike trailer has a 5-point harness and an aluminum roll cage.
The problem: Putting helmets on my kids looks fucking miserable. Their heads are cast downward, they have nowhere to look around, and the youngest is clearly upset after around 15 minutes in the trailer. The oldest still has an OK time but is far quieter than when we rode together with a secondary saddle. FAQ says deal with it.
Assume you're a typical parent (I.E. your children are the most important thing in your life and you can't imagine causing them harm through negligence) but you also loathe the vapid stupidity of "better safe than sorry" in the face of all rationality, would you consider forgoing the helmet?
"Other Site" discussions:
I feel like I have to join any online discussion about bikes and helmets. But I live in the Netherlands and see about a million kids a day on bikes themselves or towed by their parents. Helmet ratio is probably a couple percentage points tops. And it’s almost always neurotic American expats. Is it really worth ruining the whole experience and habit of biking over a minuscule safety improvement? (Assuming you aren’t cycling through infrastructure unsafe for biking)
On the flipside, though, I will say that the Netherland's helmet culture is a bit of a chicken or the egg situation.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but people are generally riding heavy bikes very slowly in highly protected lanes.
If we're road riding in America, there's a significant cohort of negligent drivers. There's even a small group of drivers who want to actively hurt and kill cyclists. Helmets on public roads for riders - even to my risk-pooh-poohing self - are necessary. Not to mention the sort of downhill mountainbiking I do every once in a while.
Even our greenway, while at least an order of magnitude safer, isn't without hazards. Other cyclists are moving at a huge variety of speeds, myself included, from a drowsy beach cruiser to someone chasing a KOM on a segment. Pedestrians weave back and forth with abandon, huge groups take up the whole path, and dogs on leashes dart in front of cyclists at will.
I can minimize these greatly by being verbal and passing slowly. When I'm towing the trailer, the risk of me having to emergency stop or swerve is extremely low.
It’s true most bikes are pretty heavy. But no people definitely don’t ride them slowly. And highly protected lanes depends very much on where you are. Suburbs or newly built cities yes. On more historical cities not at all. Also virtually nobody wears helmets with e-bikes either. Scooters going in the bike lane have to use helmets since last year though.
This is my average everyday cycle in Amsterdam city center to be honest.. but it’s not very safe and with kids in tow definitely understandable to be cautious. Don’t you think something like a “bakfiets” would be safer against rolling than a tow?
They do sell these. I've considered getting some sort of variant of this or a longtail cargo bike for sure.
Truthfully, I'm out of room in the garage for another huge bike (for a total of 3). The price for a new one is $2,500+, wheras this trailer was $100 used. I do have some grocery and playgrounds in pedal distance and it's not out of the question, though.
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