Would you cycle with one of these?

I snapped this guy on the way home from work the other day – what do you think? That looks kind of cool to me. If you've ever seen photos from Denmark you'll know that basically *everyone* cycles there, and all the mums have these little bike trailers for their shopping, or for the kids to ride in. Mind you, Denmark has dedicated cycle lanes everywhere with curbs to stop cars riding on to them. Here, you might feel differently about putting the kids in the back. For the shopping though, I'd be happy to use this kind of dinky wee trailer – it's a carbon-free, no-petrol way to haul a load around.

What do you reckon?

 

25/04/2013  4:29 am by thought-tank

I live in Hannover (Germany) and most people I know with kids, have one of These. They are a great way to get around with one or two kids (three with a back seat on the bike), to shop or for days out etc. Several reasons though, while some ideas don't travel well. Firstly, European cities are more compact than new-world cities and so people tend to shop more locally and more often (than in NZ, OZ, US and Can) where shopping tends to be a massive once a week undertaking. Equally, the city limits are nearer and so a weekend outing by bike is feasible. Where as in NW cities one tends to load up the car and just head off... (usually a much greater distance). There are perhaps numerous little reasons like these but perhaps the biggest of all is that cities from Switzerland through Austria, Germany, Holland and Scandinavia, all have dedicated cycle ways. This is down to a mind-set, however, not simply urban planning. For the same reasons that these are the cleanest, best organised, most environmentally-aware nations in Europe, so too they understand the values of travelling by bike. To reinforce this, cyclists are sacrosanct. If you endanger a cyclist – or worse, kill one – you will not be easily excused, even where the cyclist was at fault. And because even car drivers are also cyclists (or their spouse or kids are), they respect cyclists and take great care not to hit them.

 

01/05/2013  8:25 am by emikkelsen

Yes, I would and have, but there is a much better solution for transporting children now from Crank Cargo right here in New Zealand. The Christiania bike is made in Denmark and imported by a New Zealand company. I spent one month in Denmark and two months in Germany and Italy last year and had the same experience as you. Great care around my partner and I on small folding bikes. Even mixing with traffic which was unavoidable in Rome, we felt safe, no agro just care.

 

29/04/2013  1:31 pm by Greg Roughan - Green Ideas editor

Thanks for your very considered reply. It seems that getting more people (safely) on to bikes is about culture change as well as being about support from councils and government. More cycle lanes would be a great start here in NZ!

 

03/05/2013  5:06 pm by george

I love this idea, and yeah, I would be very happy to take the kids around areas with cycle lanes or wide roads. (Preferably flat roads too... haha.)

 

08/05/2013  7:21 pm by Liz Koppert

I probably would (if I had kids). I actually have saddle (pannier) bags attached to the carrier on my bike for things like groceries and sketching gear (I belong to a sketching group). It's great when, on those shopping days, I go off to sketching whilst the rest of the family continue to do the shopping.

 

12/05/2013  5:06 pm by Brian Peter Drury

While they look good, these are far too dangerous for NZ roads with all the ridiculous four-wheel-can't-drives on our roads. I saw one last week in Kennedy Road and it actually went right outside the cycle lane and into traffic when passing a parked car. Not for my kid.