Jan 13, 2011
Too young to ride?
HB 2228 would make outlaws out of families like this
As some of you may know, Oregon State Representative Mitch Greenlick recently introduced an Oregon House Bill 2228 that:
Prohibits person from carrying child under six years of age on bicycle or in bicycle trailer. Punishes[sic] by maximum fine of $90. Emphasis Mine
While I can agree with the first portion of the bill that “[more] persons on the bicycle than the number for which it is designed or safely equipped” would deem a citation, the second addition regarding child carrying age is a bit extreme.
As a cargo bicycle company, we’ve had the distinct pleasure of riding passengers and being one on the back of our Xtracycles. What’s been an even bigger pleasure is the opportunity to connect families through our products due to their ability to also carry children, safely and comfortably. We’ve believed in this notion of the family bicycle so much that we’ve offered child bicycle seats for Xtracycles 7 years counting.
In addition to our child seat offerings, we’ve also taken it upon ourselves to make passengering accessories that improve the safety and ride quality for our passengers.
These passengering accessories, along with our durable and stable longtail design, frees our Oregon users from the first clause of the proposed bill, but the addition of a child carrying age limit is taking the nanny state a bit too far. It doesn’t suggest that children use a approved child seat like cars require or anything else along the lines of compromise. It’s black/white, cut/dry to the point of ridiculousness.
Even the bike commute study released by OHSU detailing bicycle injuries and accidents that Rep. Greenlick cites as motivation for this “debate opener” is being riddled with holes regarding the study’s true findings and its lack of child accident data.
We all want our children to be safe in every activity they take part in. Children should wear helmets, ride in equipment that’s designed for their weight/size/age and they should be monitored frequently during said activity. But requiring ALL Oregon parents to forego riding with their child, on the parents’ bicycles, under parental control, is reaching too far. Is a child safer if he/she is 5-years-old and is riding their own bicycle on the street?
I hope calmer, realistic minds prevail as this bill tumbles down the legislative chutes and ladders. I also hope that Oregon families who ride, or plan to ride, with their children on their bicycles speak up and write your respective legislators asking to quash this bill (respectively, of course, no need for hysterics… yet).
With that I leave you with some video to enjoy, and testimonials of riding with wee ones on Xtracycles.
“It is flower time here in CA and this week while biking my 6-year-old home from school I had the pleasure of listening to he and my 3-year-old discuss all the different colors of flowers they saw on the ride home. Oh, and I think my two guys have finally figured out how to ride back there without being wiggly. They used to bug each other and wiggle a lot but it’s been much easier recently. Then again, maybe they are distracted by the flowers.
That and when I pulled the bike out to the street by the school another guy on a bike went by and saw my 6-year-old getting on and said, “That’s very cool!
Speaking of birds… my three-year-old and I saw a hawk yesterday! I was able to stop quickly on the bike and point out the hawk being chased away by two crows. Definitely easier to do by bike than by car.” – Abigail
“We had a great family bike tour. The oldest rode her own and Anne and I took turns hauling the youngest and all the gear on our Xtracycles. These are some great family camping adventure machines!” – Tim
“[I love] riding with my daughter’s bike strapped on the FreeRadical, then stopping to let her ride on the safer stretches. She is such an enthusiast (at 5 yrs), since she practically grew up on my bike.” – Morgan
“Thanks so much. I love your products. My little Jill cried when she saw the bike my LBS is lending us because it did not have a place for her to ride. She loves a longtail as much as I do! Thanks again!” – Brent
Camping: Muir Headlands
A weekend camping excursion on Xtracycle longtail cargo bicycles. Started from Ferry Building in San Francisco and headed across the Golden Gate Bridge up into the Muir Headlands. Every day adventure, at it again. Video
PeaPod LT Testimonial: Jeanette
Jeanette and Mark recently tested PeaPod LT on their Xtracycle. Jeanette did the install and they took their 13-month-old daughter on a bunch of short, and long distance, outings. They are now proud PeaPod LT owners. Video
Davis Rolls to Pre-School Aboard Her Daddy’s Xtracycle
Nate filmed this short of his daughter on their way to pre-school. Just another every day adventure! Video
Someone needs to get Mitch on an Xtracycle. Does he have kids?
Here’s my Facebook response to the bikeportland.org story I read this moring:
Jeez Greenlick! If you want to ban kid passengers on bikes because they ‘can’ get hurt, then you also need to ban kids riding in cars, buses, strollers, swings, slides, jumpers… the list goes on and on. You might as well put our kids in a safety bubbles..
According the CDC ( http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/childpas.htm ) :
“In the United States during 2005, 1,335 children ages 14 years and younger died as occupants in motor vehicle crashes, and approximately 184,000 were injured.”
Accordining to http://www.helmets.org/stats.htm , which sourced it’s data from http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pubs/811156.pdf :
2008 data shows:
“Bicyclists 15 and under killed: 93. Injured: 13,000″
Based on Greenlick’s reasoning to save just one kids life, it makes more sense to first ban children in automobiles.
Mr Geenlick, please find something better to do with your time…
As an X-mom who carries 2 kids on my Xtracycle (both on the deck and in a trailer) AND lives in Oregon, this bill is appalling. However, as a former legislative aide at the state capitol in Salem I don’t see this one getting very far at all. Pressure is good so keep it up. If you live in Oregon let your Representative and Senator know that you don’t want to see this one go anywhere. If you are not from Oregon, let Rep. Greenlick know that this is a waste of tax payer money and time. Build more bike lanes!!!!
X on people!
If biking with my kids on the back becomes illegal I’m going to use the money saved not driving on all the tickets I’ll be getting. Biking together isn’t just something our family loves, it’s who are family is! Let’s hope this gets squashed in OR and doesn’t spread!
I live in car-centric suburban Denver with my wife and five-year old daughter. To reduce our car use, I bought a Big Dummy. The effect was immediately transformational. Riding together as a family for recreation, errands and commuting to work and school has made us healthier and happier.
My daughter loves to ride the Big Dummy, although she is able to ride her own bike. Wherever we go, she happily informs curious people about how we use the bike and what it can carry. She enjoys arriving at school on the Big Dummy, which is usually mobbed by kids telling us how cool they think the bike is and asking if their parents can get one too. In part because of riding from an early age, I’m confident my daughter will be physically active and a lifetime bike rider, both valuable to counter health risks prevalent in our culture. She is also more engaged with our community and the world around her; highly useful building blocks for creating good citizens.
This past year, I built an Xtracycle for my wife. We now know more about our neighbors and neighborhood and are more likely to visit local restaurants and businesses than in the past. In a car, we tend to stick to standard routes around town, spending money at the same places. On bikes we are more free to explore, spending money not needed for gas throughout our community.
I am not an anti-car advocate, but instead in favor of using the correct vehicle for the job. Our family owns two cars, but we use them much less frequently around town than before. Like others in this country who are pioneering life with reduced car dependence, a law to restrict carrying young children by bike would be detrimental to our health, economics and quality of life.
Thanks for the feedback and comments, especially yours Andy!
[...] quote a comment wrt to the proposed Oregon child bicycle [...]
Hi all, Good luck fighting this, it’s simply people who don’t know going on gut feeling.
There’s an interesting piece of research on the IMBA website, about MTBs on trails and peoples perceptions of them. Overwhelmingly the attitude is that they go too fast, erode trails, hit pedestrians etc. The key is an insignificant number had actually ever had any issue with an MTB user, those that had were more positive.
Bottom line – you need to educate the (lardy) bureaucrats about your way of life, and point ou to them what a colossal waste of public funds this bill would be.
Thanks, Rick. It’s encouraging to see that there has been a strong reaction against the bill in its present form. Although I don’t live in Oregon, in the bike world it seems that whatever happens in Portland eventually makes its way elsewhere. It is essential for family bikers, wherever they happen to reside, to assist in stopping a bad idea before it spreads.