The Safety of Tag-Alongs, Bike Trailers, Kid Tandems

[Emett]

Clearly need a forum for this subject!

 

I'll start by staying I love taking my 9 year old around by tag-along, we started when she was 7 or 8 years old.  Ours is a used "Trail-a-Bike" we got from a friend for 40 bucks.  Starting at 5 we walked my bike to the bus and she might stand on a pedal for awhile.  At 6 she was often a crossbar passenger-- that was my favorite!

 

Once, while tag-alonging, Maiya's ability to add to the overall balance of the system saved us when I lost balance due the front tire slipping out.  Together we recover it and did not fall.  And the only time she's ever been hurt at all was once I kicked her getting off the bike.  Learning curve: now she dismounts first.

 

I'm never planning on getting on the driving learning curve with my children in the car.  Note: if you're alive, then you're on a learning curve...

 

See the exploded internet discussion on bikePortland.org about proposed house bill 2228.  BikePortland is featured on Unpollute's main page a couple of times over...