Is This Mom a Jerk?

Captain

Captain

Final Approach
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Okay, this one is legit. I just saw this and my jaw dropped. The following is EXACTLY what I saw...no tricks.

I just dropped my kids off at school and am driving back home. Sitting at a red light waiting to turn left I see 'Mom' approaching from my left towards the intersection. She's on a bike riding against traffic (far side of the street from my perspective). Once she got to the intersection she turned left to continue on the road I was on in the same direction...still against traffic.

In her arms is a little girl. Maybe 2 or 3. Blonde hair both of them. I know that because neither of them had a helmet on.

So, 'Mom's' riding her bike holding a little girl in her left arm on her hip while holding the handle bars with her right. She's riding against traffic and has elected not to put a helmet on anyone. If I had to guess I'd say 'Mom' is around 23'ish.

Have we reached 'Jerk' status here?
 
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Spend a day in Southeast Asia and observe the bicycle and motorbike riding habits. Report back to me your findings.
 
Oops, missed something. I forgot to mention I do not live in Southeast Asia. :lol:

Actually I've been there and I know what they do. I thought about that at the time and balanced my incredulousness with that knowledge. In the end I'm still amazed. Some countries stone women who allow themselves to be raped. Point is just because some backwards country does something routinely doesn't mean it should be accepted here.

Honestly, I just can't imagine riding a bike holding a toddler in my arms.
 
Probably not a good idea, however the sad thing is with some of this stuff you need to worry more about the law and no knock child protective service kidnappings then harm from an accident.
I'll give her props for freedom and props for giving Darwinism a chance. 'Give Darwin a Chance' would make a great bumper sticker.
 
My observed record for a single motorbike is two parents and 5 kids. The only two helmets were on the parents.
 
Not wise, but I hope not illegal. People should be free to act in really stupid fashion. It's good for the species.
 
What if the kid is a super genius and will one day discover the cure for cancer?

Don't get me wrong...I'm not in the camp that mom should be arrested or the kid taken away. I just can't imagine riding a bike one handed holding a toddler in my free arm.
 
Captain said:
What if the kid is a super genius and will one day discover the cure for cancer?
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Very, very unlikely. Something about the apple not falling far from the tree.

Besides, there will never be a cure for "cancer". Cancer is actually a set of relatively unrelated diseases.
 
Toddlers on bikes with "Mom" are extra bonus points. You blew a good opportunity.








:D
 
When I was a kid we rode on the handlebars or standing on pegs attached to the rear wheels....... Dumb? Sure. Not seeing where it's anyone else's problem though.
 
Even though I road bike, any cyclist riding against traffic deserves to have the door opened on them, by any approaching car.
 
jbarrass said:
When I was a kid we rode on the handlebars or standing on pegs attached to the rear wheels....... Dumb? Sure. Not seeing where it's anyone else's problem though.
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Riding the wrong way is the issue.
 
steingar said:
Not wise, but I hope not illegal. People should be free to act in really stupid fashion. It's good for the species.
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Freedom is tricky. If that woman wants to risk cracking open her skull on the open road that's her business. If she has an accident and her child is harmed, everybody in the world will focus on her bad choice and not her freedom. "In the interest of the child" trumps freedom all day long. Let's hope she's written a citation so severe that it will discourage such irresponsible behavior.
 
KeithASanford said:
Freedom is tricky. If that woman wants to risk cracking open her skull on the open road that's her business. If she has an accident and her child is harmed, everybody in the world will focus on her bad choice and not her freedom. "In the interest of the child" trumps freedom all day long. Let's hope she's written a citation so severe that it will discourage such irresponsible behavior.
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Thus we must make it illegal for children to fly in GA airplanes and outlaw flying over schools, parks, playgrounds, and suburbs.
 
steingar said:
Not wise, but I hope not illegal. People should be free to act in really stupid fashion. It's good for the species.
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It's all good until the rest of us pay the bills.

The primary reason stuff like that is illegal is to prevent tax dollars from paying for the mother's stupidity.

Anyone that stoopid, likely is going to rely on the state to pay the bills when the inevitable accident happens.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Thus we must make it illegal for children to fly in GA airplanes...
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While I wouldn't fly my own children yet(just a student myself) safety precautions can be taken to minimize risk. The mother could also take precautions to minimize risk of injury to her child and she's choosing not to.

ClimbnSink said:
...and outlaw flying over schools, parks, playgrounds, and suburbs.
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FAR Part § 91.119
 
KeithASanford said:
While I wouldn't fly my own children yet(just a student myself) safety precautions can be taken to minimize risk. The mother could also take precautions to minimize risk of injury to her child and she's choosing not to.



FAR Part § 91.119
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Even if I'm at 1500' ?
 
EdFred said:
Even if I'm at 1500' ?
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Might as well outlaw SUVs too.

The point is, risk is everywhere and we should act in any reasonable way to minimize it, especially with children. This woman is making a bad choice and if she's not going to take reasonable measures to protect her kid on a bike in traffic, she should be "encouraged" to with a nice big ticket.
 
Fearless Tower said:
It's all good until the rest of us pay the bills.

The primary reason stuff like that is illegal is to prevent tax dollars from paying for the mother's stupidity.

Anyone that stoopid, likely is going to rely on the state to pay the bills when the inevitable accident happens.
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Agreed 100%............................

And they are not only "intelligence challanged"... they are reproducing too.:eek::(..
 
Fearless Tower said:
It's all good until the rest of us pay the bills.

The primary reason stuff like that is illegal is to prevent tax dollars from paying for the mother's stupidity.

Anyone that stoopid, likely is going to rely on the state to pay the bills when the inevitable accident happens.
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Yeah, that's the inevitable argument in any helmet debate, and a good one IMHO. I suppose the stronger argument could easily be made that the mother is needlessly endangering the child, who is too young to know better. I still like the Darwinian aspects, but odds are they'd just get hurt, and yeah we all get to pay for it.
 
I'm far from outraged... no more so than when some completely distracted driver is yakking on the phone (with kids, erratic speed, stopping at a green light, etc).

My outrage could be tempered by her displayed proficiency.

If it 's against the law, she should be ticketed. Wish they did that do phone drivers where unlawful.

Wrong way is sometimes optimal, especially where there are no bike lanes and no respect for bike riders on the road. It's getting better but some people still believe that bikes have no business on any road, I can understand wanting to look them in their deadened eyes as they finish their phone call and run me over.

Me, I decided the cost/benefit ratio for road biking was too high for this pilot. Off roading around the airport with a helmet, no problem. Sharing the road with drivers is not where I want to spend any of my 9 lives.
 
I never wore a helmet one time riding a bike as a kid. If any kid did then they would get beat up. We also did everything dangerous we possibly could, riding against traffic wouldn't even register on the scale.

Welcome to the Nancy nation.
 
Why so obsessed with identifying jerks?
 
Is the concern the lack of helmet or the wrong way riding?

If its the latter, you're right, she's dumb and she's going to kill herself and her kid.
If its the former, you're out of line, as helmets on a bicycle are dumb and pointless.
 
As an FYI, most Southeast Asian countries require adults to wear helmets on motorbikes but not kids. I'm not sure I understand the rationale behind this, perhaps helmets aren't made in toddler sizes overseas.
 
Palmpilot said:
Is there data to support that assertion? If so, what is it?
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I'm alive and so is everyone from my generation and before where helmets weren't used. We've all had nasty spills.

Its nanny-nation BS to think that suddenly heads have gotten softer, or asphalt has gotten harder.
 
Palmpilot said:
Why so obsessed with identifying jerks?
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I'm not. It's a bit. My signature thing...

They usually spark pretty lengthy threads.

SkyHog said:
Is the concern the lack of helmet or the wrong way riding?

If its the latter, you're right, she's dumb and she's going to kill herself and her kid.
If its the former, you're out of line, as helmets on a bicycle are dumb and pointless.
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Neither. I only provided the wrong way and helmet thing to set the stage. My real issue was riding a bike alongside a busy road while holding a toddler. One handed bike riding while holding a heavy object is difficult. Now that heavy object is a kid whose taking a dangerous fall alongside a busy road.
 
SkyHog said:
I'm alive and so is everyone from my generation and before where helmets weren't used. We've all had nasty spills.

Its nanny-nation BS to think that suddenly heads have gotten softer, or asphalt has gotten harder.
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On the other hand, we had a kid in the neighborhood fall off a bike while stationary, hit his head on the pavement and die back 20 or so years ago. There are no absolutes in this area. Sure, I rode a bike growing up and we had never even heard of the concept of helmets for bicycle riders. Motorcycles, you bet.

Riding against traffice, on the other hand, is dumb. And in this state, illegal. Bicycle riders are expected to follow the same rules of the road as automobile drivers. That, and they get treated as pedestrians if in a crosswalk.
 
SkyHog said:
I'm alive and so is everyone from my generation and before where helmets weren't used. We've all had nasty spills.
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So, no one was brain-damaged or killed due to a head injury in a bicycle accident? That's a pretty bold claim.

Its nanny-nation BS to think that suddenly heads have gotten softer, or asphalt has gotten harder.
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I thought bicycle helmet laws were state, not federal.
 
Ghery said:
...Sure, I rode a bike growing up and we had never even heard of the concept of helmets for bicycle riders. Motorcycles, you bet...
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My recollection is that when I grew up, not even motocyclists were required to wear helmets. I remember hearing objections to the requirement. Same for seat belts in cars.
 
bartmc said:
The people skiing with infants strapped to them always amaze me.
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They do that? Why? Can afford to ski but not pay for a sitter? I'm an expert skier and I'd never think to do that to my kid.

Unless the parents did pay for a sitter and it's the sitter wearing the baby!
:D
 
I'll bet the kid didn't even have sunscreen on... Should we be worried about having to pay for the kids melanoma in 50 years?

What if the mom smokes, heaven forbid..... Should we be worried about the kids potential for lung cancer?

I heard about a kid in our neighborhood that watches TV every day. Overweight obviously.... Should we be worried about the kids future diabetes?

There was a report on the internet about a mom who exposed her kid to radiation at a TSA checkpoint just so she could go on Vacation. Should we be worried about the kids cumulative exposure to radiation?

I assume by "we" you mean the Government.

Sounds like this person is a tool but freedom to make bad choices beats the alternatives. I take my kids flying, swimming in the ocean, hunting, fishing, and all manner of things Mayor Bloomberg wanna-be's would consider dumb. But I like the freedom to make choices for me & my family and am willing to accept the related risk for me and my family.

I'm sure there is a forum in a parallel world where posters are aghast at people who take their kids in small planes. And I'm really sure there are many that would like to see the officials take my kids away because I take them on a hunt.

Yeah, I think the nanny state has gone to far. Intentions are good, but where does it stop? Freedom is a pretty good thing.
 
SkyHog said:
I'm alive and so is everyone from my generation and before where helmets weren't used. We've all had nasty spills.

Its nanny-nation BS to think that suddenly heads have gotten softer, or asphalt has gotten harder.
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I'm alive because of helmets. Took a header into a tree trunk as a kid and shattered my helmet. Glad it wasn't my skull
 
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SkyHog said:
I'm alive and so is everyone from my generation and before where helmets weren't used. We've all had nasty spills.

Its nanny-nation BS to think that suddenly heads have gotten softer, or asphalt has gotten harder.
Click to expand...

I'm curious, Nick. Do you buckle Tyler into a carseat?
 
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