Simon L wrote:
> I've got a 7 month old little one and so far family commitments have
> prevented me from doing too much cycling - one solution seems to be to
> take her along with me on a ride. I have got a secondhand baby seat
> (sits on a rear rack) but I think she's a bit young for it (her head
> bobs around a bit too much) & I've failed to find a helmet for babies.
>
> Slightly worried about the safety aspects of getting a trailer (being
> seen by fast approaching traffic mostly). I'd be grateful for someone's
> experience of cycling with the rather young...
Trailer. Safer than the child seat by far. IMhO, Ritchie & Legerro are
of good quality (I've been using a Leggero Classico daily for five
years). We start 'em in it at three months (with a Weber
trailer-specific baby seat) , and the first child is just getting too
big now, at seven years old.
Below is a translation of a description of a study of child trailer
safety by the German insurer Allianz - it been posted here before, but
the translation is gradually improving...
The Smooth Train(*)
--------------------------
Children in trailers are sitting particularly safe
Institutions close to the car industry denounce bike trailers for
transport of people, as the colourful, light carriages become
increasing popular, sometimes replacing second if not first cars. Hard
projectiles must occasionally take the blame for discrediting this
environmentally-friendly mode of child transport. Dekra (a German car
safety testing organization, with strong links to the automobile
industry) and Bruderhilfe (a German church organization that provides
car insurance) report that a car speeding into a trailer can be fatal.
Surely, the fact that cars represent a real danger for everyone without
a crumple zone is common knowledge without the car lobby needing to
advertise the fact itself.
There are, however, insurance underwriters who make objective
assessments of risks. Last year, for the first time. the AZT (the
technical research center for Allianz, a large German insurer) took the
trouble to compare the potential danger of trailers and traditional
child bicycle seats for their small passengers. The results of twenty
seven crash tests give a clear message: children are safer in trailers
than in the bike seat. When AZT chief Dr. Dieter Anselm gave the
results on 21 March 1996 in Munich, he described them as "surprisingly
positive" - the AZT had approached the set of tests with a certain
amount of reservation.
Subjectively, children in a trailer look particularly vulnerable,
placed at the height of cars' bumpers. But it is precisely this that
can save life in the event of a collision: the car pushes the trailer
completely out of its path, while the cyclist, "high on a horse", is
catapulted first onto the car and then into the road. The transport of
children near the handlebars is particularly dangerous; with those in
rear-mounted child seats fairing better in head-on collisions.
The trailer does not tip over as readily as the bike - and when it
does, the height of the fall and the potential for injury are clearly
lower. With child seats serious accidents can take place when the bike
is being loaded - whereas a trailer with a axle coupling remains
unaffected should the towing bike fall over.
The AZT stresses the importance of stable trailer construction with
full seat belts and the use of helmets, to prevent the children coming
into contact with the bumpers. Unfortunately, relevant safety
standards are lacking, and the models tested could all have been
improved. The manufacturers and retailers of trailers are moving into
uncharted territory: Paragraph 21 of the German road traffic
regulations (StVO) forbids carrying people on the "goods area" of a
trailer. This regulation does not directly apply to bike or special
child trailers, but there is room for doubt. In the view of the AZT
this is a pity: "The manufacturers of bike trailers must be given a
clearer legislative framework, so that they can further develop this,
the - so far as we can determine - currently safest transport mode for
children and thereby contribute to better protection of children in
traffic".
(translated from
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/1033/9602anhaenger.html)
(*) The original title: "Des Zöglings Sänfte", seems to make a play
on words equivalent to "train -> trainee(pupil)" and "train -
something pulled". I don't think the other german meaning of Zögling,
'Orphan', is intended - although the stuff about the cyclist being
catapulted across the car makes me wonder...
It
