Kid's Trailers for Puxh bikes

Quoted message said:

I would like to thank all who have taken the time to reply to my post.
I have recieved my trailer today and am very happy with it so far, My
DS age 2.5 yrs loves it I can't keep him out of it. We have taken it
for a ride and you barly now its there. I had a helmet on him but it
seamed very uncomfertable for him.
DOES any one know if its law here in Australia if they have to wear a
helmet in these trailer's?

Yes, it is law.

Quoted message said:

I would like to thank all who have taken the time to reply to my post.
I have recieved my trailer today and am very happy with it so far, My
DS age 2.5 yrs loves it I can't keep him out of it. We have taken it
for a ride and you barly now its there. I had a helmet on him but it
seamed very uncomfertable for him.
DOES any one know if its law here in Australia if they have to wear a
helmet in these trailer's?
thank you to all you kind folk who answere my question.

Kind regards Mrs Mintie

As Bleve said, yes, it's the law. Then again, in Perth I see loads of
helmetless cyclists every day (much more now than when I arrived 3
years ago) and often see them cycle past police on foot or in cars and
the police pay no notice. I think the police are more concerned about
more serious issues. Also, how well can anyone else see into the
trailer to tell whether you're towing a helmetless toddler or a sack
of spuds?

I'm not encouraging you to break the law though. In fact, that's one
of the many things that annoy me about the helmet law(s). Kids know
that they are legally required to wear a helmet but will learn quickly
that this law is often ignored with impunity. So we're effectively
teaching kids that laws don't matter thanks to a poorly thought out
implementation.

My son is helmetless in the trailer but will wear a helmet when we
start teaching him to cycle. We've already bought the helmet, a large
adult helmet for a 3 year old. The poor bugger's got his dad's
head :-/

Graeme

Yes, cops will mostly ignore that law unless there is some sort of crack down or bored cop.

However, if they see a baby or toddler without a helmet, they may be more likely to take action against an idiot who puts an innocent at risk rather than an idiot who puts himself at risk.

quote='Graeme Dods'On Jun 4 said:

I would like to thank all who have taken the time to reply to my post.
I have recieved my trailer today and am very happy with it so far, My
DS age 2.5 yrs loves it I can't keep him out of it. We have taken it
for a ride and you barly now its there. I had a helmet on him but it
seamed very uncomfertable for him.
DOES any one know if its law here in Australia if they have to wear a
helmet in these trailer's?
thank you to all you kind folk who answere my question.

Kind regards Mrs Mintie

As Bleve said, yes, it's the law. Then again, in Perth I see loads of
helmetless cyclists every day (much more now than when I arrived 3
years ago) and often see them cycle past police on foot or in cars and
the police pay no notice. I think the police are more concerned about
more serious issues. Also, how well can anyone else see into the
trailer to tell whether you're towing a helmetless toddler or a sack
of spuds?

I'm not encouraging you to break the law though. In fact, that's one
of the many things that annoy me about the helmet law(s). Kids know
that they are legally required to wear a helmet but will learn quickly
that this law is often ignored with impunity. So we're effectively
teaching kids that laws don't matter thanks to a poorly thought out
implementation.

My son is helmetless in the trailer but will wear a helmet when we
start teaching him to cycle. We've already bought the helmet, a large
adult helmet for a 3 year old. The poor bugger's got his dad's
head :-/

Graeme[/QUOTE]

I've got my three year old in our trailer, about to be joined by our other littler one - And at this stage neither of them have helmets. That's not a deliberate decision to flout the law for the fun of it, but rather simply because helmets don't work well as the back of the seat pushes them forward and makes it all very uncomfortable.

I'm also of the opinion that if anything is going to get through the massive roll cage that they're sitting in and get to them strapped securely into their 4 point harness, then a helmet might not be much added protection. In other words, the trailer rolling or hitting a tree is in itself going to provide most of the protection itself. And if it gets squashed by a semi, well, a helmet isn't going to help much. That being said, I could be wrong and as soon as they're big enough to have the helmet work properly, they will wear one, as do I always.

I've never been pulled up by a police officer, or even busybody citizen, over not having them wearing helmets. Indeed, you can barely even see them in there with the tinted plastic. But, your experience might differ, and there's definitely no harm in having helmets on them if the trailer accommodates that.

So, to sum up your argument.

1) if they can not wear a helmet without them being seen, then it's ok.

2) You'd rather them brain damaged than uncomfortable.

3) Whilst I take your point about things hitting the trailer, you make no room for the possibility that the trailer could roll, or they could get thrown around in it. Oh, I forgot, the plastic walls are bullet proof and the straps are un-breakable.

I have been so silly.

SCotty

eddiec said:

I've got my three year old in our trailer, about to be joined by our other littler one - And at this stage neither of them have helmets. That's not a deliberate decision to flout the law for the fun of it, but rather simply because helmets don't work well as the back of the seat pushes them forward and makes it all very uncomfortable.

I'm also of the opinion that if anything is going to get through the massive roll cage that they're sitting in and get to them strapped securely into their 4 point harness, then a helmet might not be much added protection. In other words, the trailer rolling or hitting a tree is in itself going to provide most of the protection itself. And if it gets squashed by a semi, well, a helmet isn't going to help much. That being said, I could be wrong and as soon as they're big enough to have the helmet work properly, they will wear one, as do I always.

I've never been pulled up by a police officer, or even busybody citizen, over not having them wearing helmets. Indeed, you can barely even see them in there with the tinted plastic. But, your experience might differ, and there's definitely no harm in having helmets on them if the trailer accommodates that.

geez - someone woke up as Mr Sarcastic Grumpy pants this morning...

1) No - just making the point that if you do choose to not have them wearing a helmet, it's unlikely that you'll be pulled up by a cop. Not advocating that you make that decision however.

2) Interesting assumption there, that I have a choice between uncomfortable and brain damaged children. We'll ignore the myriad of other factors that might be involved there.

3) I've known people who've rolled their trailer with their kids in it - While scared and shaken (literally!), they have been unharmed. Getting thrown around within the trailer is pretty unlikely if you saw how tightly we strap them in, and yes, the straps are pretty unbreakable.

All of the accusations you've placed on my opinion (without knowing me or how/where I ride with my kids) could be fairly applied to motor vehicles as well... So, I assume you and your kids wear helmets in the car? Oh, that's right - you'd rather be brain damaged than uncomfortable, and there's no possibility that the car could roll or they could get thrown around in it, as the car is bullet proof and the straps are un-breakable.

I have been so silly. (Couldn't resist)...

In aus.bicycle on Wed, 6 Jun 2007 14:21:45 +1000

scotty72 said:

So, to sum up your argument.

1) if they can not wear a helmet without them being seen, then it's ok.

2) You'd rather them brain damaged than uncomfortable.

3) Whilst I take your point about things hitting the trailer, you make
no room for the possibility that the trailer could roll, or they could
get thrown around in it. Oh, I forgot, the plastic walls are bullet
proof and the straps are un-breakable.

4) you know how likely the brain damage is, and how well a helmet will
prevent it.

5) you don't expect a helmet to protect from bullets.

Zebee

scotty72 said:

So, to sum up your argument.

1) if they can not wear a helmet without them being seen, then it's
ok.

2) You'd rather them brain damaged than uncomfortable.

3) Whilst I take your point about things hitting the trailer, you make
no room for the possibility that the trailer could roll, or they could
get thrown around in it. Oh, I forgot, the plastic walls are bullet
proof and the straps are un-breakable.

Quoted message said:

I have been so silly.

Oh goodie, helmet war. I'll start:-
My parents never forced me to wear a helmet, they never even suggested I
wear a helmet, they didn't know a helmet was an essential safety item. My
dad wore a leather thing that wrapped around his head when riding his
motorcycle, but he said that was only to keep his ears warm.

Should I sue my parents?

Theo

eddiec said:

All of the accusations you've placed on my opinion (without knowing me
or how/where I ride with my kids) could be fairly applied to motor
vehicles as well... So, I assume you and your kids wear helmets in the
car? Oh, that's right - you'd rather be brain damaged than
uncomfortable, and there's no possibility that the car could roll or
they could get thrown around in it, as the car is bullet proof and the
straps are un-breakable.

Love your style Eddie. I'm fairly certain that Scotty's kids were pre-fitted
with helmets before birth. That birthing can really distort your head. :-)

Theo

On 2007-06-06, scotty72 (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

So, to sum up your argument.

1) if they can not wear a helmet without them being seen, then it's ok.

2) You'd rather them brain damaged than uncomfortable.

Or the small perceived risks of brain damage outweigh the perhaps
larger risks of spinal damage from a head made twice as heavy as it
normally is, combined with the accelarations of impact.

But since there has no doubt been no study done with this in mind, I'd
rather go along the lines of my intuition rather than what the law
specifies.

P.S. Not a good way of winning arguments by calling people that
disagree with your assesment, "idiots".

--
TimC
"Cycling is like a church - many attend, but few understand." -- Jim Burlant

TimC said:

P.S. Not a good way of winning arguments by calling people that
disagree with your assesment, "idiots".

Funnily enough, it's been a day for the Deadly Ernests, or are the internets collectively suffering from Harsh Week™?

cfsmtb said:

Funnily enough, it's been a day for the Deadly Ernests, or are the
internets collectively suffering from Harsh WeekT?

Well, it's officially been Harsh Week in aus.motorcycles for more than three
years now. We tried to introduce Hugz Week but it didn't take off.

Theo

Theo Bekkers said:

Should I sue my parents?

Theo

No, but there are times when you're at your most cantankerous on
aus.bicycle that some may think they have grounds for suing your
parents for bringing you into existence :-)

It's been a while since I was involved in a helmet thread as I'd sworn
to avoid them some time ago. It looks like I started this one, oops,
sorry! What's my penance?

Graeme

Graeme Dods said:

It's been a while since I was involved in a helmet thread as I'd sworn
to avoid them some time ago. It looks like I started this one, oops,
sorry! What's my penance?

Graeme

Drop your seat 4" for the next week ;-)

On Jun 6, 1:29 pm, scotty72 <scotty72.2rq...@no-

mx.forums.cyclingforums.com said:

Yes, cops will mostly ignore that law unless there is some sort of crack
down or bored cop.

However, if they see a baby or toddler without a helmet, they may be
more likely to take action against an idiot who puts an innocent at
risk rather than an idiot who puts himself at risk.

Out of curiosity (not fan the embers or anything ... 🙂 ), don't kids
up to a certain age have very fragile skulls, or not complete skulls
or something? Such that almost any whack on the scone could be rather
more serious than on an adult's bonce?

I don't know ... no kids, and no plans to breed, just idle curiosity.

Bleve said:

Out of curiosity (not fan the embers or anything ... 🙂 ), don't kids
up to a certain age have very fragile skulls, or not complete skulls
or something? Such that almost any whack on the scone could be rather
more serious than on an adult's bonce?

Yeah, although (off the top of my head) the majority of the solidification
has taken place in the first couple of years. There are a few floaty bits
up until around 25 IIRC.

The biggest issue is the one Tim alluded to, which is that neck bones that
handle a 10% increase in mass don't take well to a 50%+ increase in mass,
so kids' helmets tend to hurt kids' necks, particularly in a trailer
situation where they're being constantly pushed forward by the back of the
helmet pressing on the seat.

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
"He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does
not ask remains a fool forever." -- Old Chinese saying

Dave said:

Bleve said:

Out of curiosity (not fan the embers or anything ... 🙂 ), don't kids
up to a certain age have very fragile skulls, or not complete skulls
or something? Such that almost any whack on the scone could be rather
more serious than on an adult's bonce?

Yeah, although (off the top of my head) the majority of the solidification
has taken place in the first couple of years. There are a few floaty bits
up until around 25 IIRC.

The biggest issue is the one Tim alluded to, which is that neck bones that
handle a 10% increase in mass don't take well to a 50%+ increase in mass,

50%?!

How much does a kids head weigh? Isn't it the head that changes the
least as a kid grows, so it'd be mostly the same weight as an adult
head (within a few 10's of percent anyway)?

Quoted message said:

Graeme Dods said:

It's been a while since I was involved in a helmet thread as I'd sworn
to avoid them some time ago. It looks like I started this one, oops,
sorry! What's my penance?

Graeme

Drop your seat 4" for the next week ;-)

Or remove it for one day.

In aus.bicycle on Thu, 07 Jun 2007 13:13:25 +0800

Friday said:

Quoted message said:

Graeme Dods said:

It's been a while since I was involved in a helmet thread as I'd sworn
to avoid them some time ago. It looks like I started this one, oops,
sorry! What's my penance?

Graeme

Drop your seat 4" for the next week ;-)

Or remove it for one day.

A new use for chain lube....

Zebee