Motorcyclists need to review some safety questions before taking child passengers for a ride.
We’ve all seen it. The motorcyclist riding down the street with a child sitting in front of him. Sometimes the child is wearing a helmet, sometimes not.
It’s a stunningly dangerous scene, one we saw in a recent blog post here about a Florida motorcyclist who was arrested for allegedly holding his helmetless 3-year-old son on his lap while taking him for a spin.
And just putting an oversize helmet on that child wouldn’t make the child any safer!
Art Friedman of Motorcycle Cruiser magazine drove home the point about unsafe child passengers: “What’s going to happen if the rider must stop quickly? Will he grab the child with one arm, and thereby probably lose control of the bike if he really has to panic stop, or will he keep control of the bike and watch the kid fly off the front of the bike? Neither option bodes well for the child. And when he goes flying, that oversize helmet will probably come off his head. ”
The Motorcycle Safety Foundation, in its tips for riding with a passenger on your motorcycle, makes several key points about the responsibilities facing passengers: they should be considered a second “active rider” who is also responsible for safe operation; and passengers should be tall enough to reach the footrests and mature enough to understand why they should use the footrests.
Is the child hoping to ride on your motorcycle really ready to answer those questions and more?
Do they have the proper protective gear, including a helmet that fits?
Will they understand a briefing on how to ride safely as a passenger?
Residents of Elmira, Corning and the Twin Tiers: Let’s remember the key to motorcycle safety and children — use common sense, and if they can’t touch the pegs, they can’t ride! And they ALWAYS wear helmets!
Thanks for reading, and always ride safely!
_______________________________
ZiffLaw Attorney, Esq.
NY and PA Motorcycle Accident Attorney
The Ziff Law Firm, LLP
303 William Street
Elmira, NY 14901
Phone: (607)733-8866
Fax: (607)732-6062
info@zifflaw.com
