<p>Used one when my kiddos were toddlers. (Borrowed a friend’s trailer)</p>
<p>Some suggestions:</p>
<p>— make the child always wears a helmet
— make sure child doesn’t unlatch the safety harness while in the trailer
— put a high pennant flag on the back of the trailer for better visibility to traffic
— place reflectors on the back of the trailer to improve visibility to traffic</p>
<p>— avoid busy roads or any roads were there is limited passing clearance/no shoulders. In fact avoid most surface roads UNLESS they have specially designated bike lanes. Even then ride with great caution. </p>
<p>---- because of the increased weight/friction/rolling resistance, bikes with trailers are harder to start and stop. ALWAYS start slowing down well in advance of where you will need to stop. And allow extra time/power to get the bike + trailer moving again. Be extra cautious at intersections since you may not have enough time to get across before the light changes.</p>
<p>— braking with a trailer is significantly different than braking with just a bike because the weight and impetus is behind the bike. You should probably practice several times first without a child in the trailer to get used to those differences. (I used a full sized watermelon to simulate the weight of child while practicing.)</p>
<p>You will probably need to upgrade the brakes on the bicycle. (Look into installing disc brakes on the bike. Rim gripper brakes may not have enough stopping power for the weight.)</p>
<p>I pulled my kids (and kids that weren’t mine too) all over the neighborhood, on low traffic/residential streets and on bike paths over the course of about 8 years with no incidents.</p>
<p>We are lucky to have lots of bike trails in Colorado. When the kids were little, there were not as many near home. But we still did manage to get out with a little bike for DD and a tag-a-long bike hitched to DH for younger DS quiet a few times. Happy memories! </p>
<p>Once on a bike trail in Winter Park we saw a fun family “train”. Parents were on tandem, hooked to one kid on a tag-along bike… followed by a bike trailer caboose.</p>
<p>eastcoastcrazy:
How awful for your D (and you). I hope it all got fixed well.</p>
<p>On the kid trailer - every now and then I see one on a regular street - crazy. That’s just putting the kid at too much risk. I don’t see the point. There’s no way I’d take one of those in an area with cars.</p>
<p>GladGradDad, thanks for asking. That accident was almost five years ago. Her braces are off, her teeth are beautiful, no lasting effects, all is well. She has a tiny scar above her upper lip that has faded to the point that it is barely noticeable. She has elected not to have that tiny scar removed yet. Maybe someday.</p>
<p>The future of the teeth that were knocked out/reimplanted and knocked far to the side/moved back into place/died and had root canals are, of course, always a question. At this time everything is solid, but we are aware that she may lose them someday. She would then get implants if at all possible.</p>
<p>I had always thought Seattle was similar to the Palo Alto area in that biking was considered a green way to get places so autos were aware of and patient with bikes of all shapes and sizes. </p>
<p>Around here bikes pulling trailers are quite common on the flatter streets and very common on the bike paths. Drivers are used to seeing them, and tend to stay clear. Do use the flags for better visibility.</p>
<p>*I had always thought Seattle was similar to the Palo Alto area in that biking was considered a green way to get places so autos were aware of and patient with bikes of all shapes and sizes. *</p>
<p>I hate those kid trailers! I live in a tourist area which gets extremely busy in the summer.
You should see the cars backed up when they’re stuck behind one of them. They’re dangerous for the biker/child and dangerous for the drivers. </p>
<p>My opinion: it’s better to take the kids for a walk to enjoy the fresh air and scenery rather than strap them to the back of your bicycle.</p>
<p>We had one of the plastic shell double trailers for 2 kids and a rear wheel mounted seat for the 3rd. That trailer was heavy and kept us down around 10 mph. It is also pretty wide and barely fits in a bike lane. We mainly stayed on the wide residential streets with very little traffic and made our way down to the bike trail. It would not be a good idea to take it out on a busy street with turn lanes and stop lights.</p>
<p>The Seattle area is bicycle friendly, but dangerous for a couple of reasons. First, there is way too much traffic. Second, no snow, so most roads are built without shoulders.</p>