Grand Kids Riding up front?

[Cormanus]

I'm sure it's as illegal here as it is in other places and I can see why. But Pterodactyl's latte sippers have some of it badly wrong. Denying children, and adults, exposure to every possible risk has induced in us a growing unwillingness to accept responsibility for our actions. If something goes wrong, it must be someone else's fault.

I've spent a little time working in an Asian country where the motorcycle is a critical form of transport and every day you see whole families loaded aboard a 90cc scooter. I've regularly counted 5—mother, father, 3 children, including tiny, tiny babies. I'm sure occasionally there are accidents, but mostly they get there safely and generally they take great care. All sorts of important life lessons are learned at those times.

Not long after I arrived the first time, I remember driving up behind a bicycle (one of the ones with pedals) and seeing a tiny face watching me over the rider's shoulder. My first reaction—conditioned a I was by life in Australia—was that this was terrible and what was the fool doing exposing the child to such risk. But I looked at the child and she looked perfectly happy. He was riding very carefully. I passed the bloke and she was perched on the bar with her arms around his neck. It was such a picture of trust and love that it made me think a lot about the harm we are doing eradicating so much risk.

While I don't think I want to see people hurtling down the motorway with small children up front on a large capacity motorcycle, a careful ride around the block can't really be too risky. Can it?

[Damfino_imp]

This article, while tragic and having to do with the child riding on the back of the motorcycle, outlines some of California's laws about children riding on motorcycle's.


http://thestir.cafemom.com/toddler/16039..._riding_on

[dBuster_imp]

There was an accident a few years ago with a mother giving her daughter a ride on their 49cc moped with the daughter standing in front of the mother and the mother hit the curb doing less than 10mph and in the tumble of mother and daughter heads were bonked and so forth. In the end both died because of the accident.

Now whether the outcome would have been different if the daughter was in the back or not, who knows. It is a shame that there was loss of life. Especially how strange it sounded like it happened. But it doesn't take much, just the right way.

I wish I could remember where this was so I could see if I could find an article or story.