Parent fined for carrying child on bike

[LANDSURFER74]

Parent fined for carrying child on bike

A cyclist has been fined for carrying his two year old son as a passenger on his bike, triggering fears that other parents could risk prosecution under road safety laws.

See this gem in the Telegraph on line .... scary...especially the Police's approach .......

[Cunobelin]

These are all difficult without the full story, but it appears to me that the offence was to do with "modifications".

The cycle needs to have been built or modified to carry a passenger. A fully fitted and properly certified seat would probably not have been stopped, it appears in this case that this is a "bodge" which the officer thought unsafe.

Imagine someone fixing a normal cafe type plastic seat into a car and then carrying a child, we would expect the Police to intervene.

[Michael R]

Cyclists also need to get fined for having bags hanging from their handlebars.

On this story, it is irresponsible not to use a proper child seat, and if this is the case I hope the fine was a big one.

But motorists need to get clobbered hard for misdemeanours too!

[TonyR]

Cyclists also need to get fined for having bags hanging from their handlebars.

On this story, it is irresponsible not to use a proper child seat, and if this is the case I hope the fine was a big one.

But motorists need to get clobbered hard for misdemeanours too!

Indications are it was a top tube mounting child seat from Halfords that meets the EN standard. So whether its proper or not depends on your view of Halfords

[snibgo]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/new ... -bike.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... cycle.html
http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/News/Wheels ... 082011.htm

The photo shown in the newspapers doesn't seem to correspond to anything in the Halfords catalogue (http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... _langId_-1).

[reohn2]

IMO the £200 fine is ridiculous,that said the child has nowhere to rest his feet(in the photo they're resting on top of the fork yolk) which means his foot could be caught up in the front wheel,the "seat" is a cushion on the top tube, I assume the child holds onto the handlebars.
I wouldn't ride with my child or grandchild in such a position let alone in traffic.

[eileithyia]

Must admit it looks rather like some padding strapped to the top tube and child's feet are just lodged on top of the fork crown!

And what about that helmet, looks far to big and is it on the right way round?

TBH residents of all sorts of countries across the world carry their kids (and other family members) on all sorts of adaptations (or not) on their bikes. The variations I saw in China were many and varied!

Must admit did not know of the law and doubt many do, what about all the kids who carry their mates on a 'croggy', life is no fun anymore.

Seems a bit like a 'jobs-worth' to me an ddare I say it, could be perceived as victimisation of the family by some who would want to use it as such.

[Si]

A spokesman for campaign group the Cyclist Tourism Club said

...so, a well researched and 100% accurate report there then.

[james01]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/new ... -bike.html
and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... cycle.html

Interesting illustration of press accuracy. One paper calls the seat home-made, the other says it was an approved design bought from Halfords.

[gaz]

Discussion already taking place on Campaigning Board, here.

[Si]

Housekeeping: two threads on the same subject merged into one.

[broadway]

And what about that helmet, looks far to big and is it on the right way round?

As this is a "posed" after the event it cannot be related to the original circumstance.

[thirdcrank]

On the basis of the torn-up ticket, this sounds like something that has escalated to the silly stage. There must be some reason, probably dating back to an incident or even a craze in the early 20C, why this was made an offence. It's one of those things like riding no-hands, riding while wheeling another bike, or even carrying a ladder which seems wrong but is not a huge social problem. ( Perhaps it would be if there wasn't a law against it. )

The idea of "adapted" implies properly adapted, but what does that mean? I remember there used to be an agricultural type of cyclist in Wetherby - when it was an agricultural sort of place - who carried a child on a sort of straw-filled palliasse on the top-tube, with home-made footrests. A once-common adaptation consisted of a small saddle with the conventional saddle clip clamped to the top-tube instead of a seatpin. If the cyclist in this case has bought it from halfords, it may be one of those that has been lurking on a shelf a few decades. As an errant teenage, I've carried plenty of friends on a bike*: lads on the saddle, girls on the top-tube. A good way to get to know somebody better (and no comments about its being a ladies bike )

I'm not an "have you nothing better to do?" merchant but it does seem sad that just as the police service generally is in full-scale withdrawal from the enforcement of road traffic offences, an army of PCSO's and the like, with minimal training, is faffing about with stuff like this.

* One at a time, that is.

[Vorpal]

I'm looking forward to the plod handing out FPNs to all the kids that ride around on each others stunt pegs.

[iviehoff]

He pleaded guilty so the facts were not examined in court. If it was a Halfords bike seat, and installed as intended, employing a well-informed lawyer would likely have got him off, but may have been more expensive than pleading guilty. But the fact of the seat being wrapped in duct tape tends to suggest some problem which might have exposed him.

I've seen people carrying children on Boris Bikes.