Originally Posted by
livedarklions
If you're going to claim it's dangerous, the burden of proof is on you. Statistically, my understanding is that the number of children injured in seats and trailers is too low for there to be any meaningful comparison of risk. In other words, it's really a competition between two safe methods of transporting children, not one where either is particularly dangerous.
The American Academy of Pediatrics prefers trailers but it doesn't look like that recommendation is really data driven.
Both a rack or top tube mounted child seat and a trailer have benefits and drawbacks in use and safety. From a simple perspective of falling though, one is clearly less dangerous than the other.
A child seat mounted on a rack or top tube has 3 feet to fall, the child is exposed to the ground, and there is a decent chance of the adult's weight striking the child in some manner.
A pull behind trailer puts the child on 2 wheels(more stable), has a pivot which increases the odds of the trailer staying upright when a bike falls, places material between the child and ground to reduce injury, and has a harness to help reduce impact with the ground.
https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...%20a%20trailer.
^ the above is a very realistic and hardly extreme analysis of safety when looking at only falling off the bike. Other types of accidents may mean different results- who knows. I only spoke of falling since that is what you initially took issue with in iride's post.
We had a Burley trailer for our youngest and used it for a very brief time because it was boring, Interaction was difficult with her in a bubble. Switched to a WeeHoo and suddenly family rides were faster, farther, and more fun because she was able to chat with us and be part of the ride.