Utility Cycling - strength of those rear cargo platforms?

so,i've seen alot of pictures from europe of people hitching a ride on a bike sitting sideways on the rear cargo platform... legs off one side.
after alot of searching, i find that few actually advertise a weight rating and the ones that do
fall short of the average person.
since the consequences of this failing seem exceedingly grim considering the locations of the support bars.... can anyone give a recommendation of a cargo platform that they might feel comfortable riding on, or have experience with passengers on?
im not actually planning to haul a person necessarily... but if it will do that.. it will do whatever I need it to without a chance of loosing my groceries in a pothole in the street.

thanks!

I have found that most rear racks are fully capable of carrying a full grown person (sidesaddle is definitely best; most comfortable, easiest to get on/off, easiest to balance). The european ones tend to be more overbuilt than the ones we commonly get in the US, but the actual rated capacity of racks in the US is usually determined by lawyers, rather than by mechanical testing of the racks. It tends to have more to do with the amount of weight that the company feels most riders can handle without getting in trouble than with the amount of weight that will cause the rack to fail. Some racks are, of course, much stronger than others, but most of them are strong enough for anything you are likely to want to haul. Get the best one you can afford, and have fun!

My Madsen is rated for 500 lbs. "kg271" is molded into the side of the bucket. The rack version is probably capable of carrying even more. I think in the madsen's case, the 20" rear wheel adds to the overall strength of the bike.

Dutch Opa and Oma bikes have racks that handle that , heavy duty bikes, nice flat country, outside of Masstricht.
http://clevercycles.com/products/bicycles/city-bikes/workcycles/#_

My Madsen is rated for 500 lbs. "kg271" is molded into the side of the bucket. The rack version is probably capable of carrying even more. I think in the madsen's case, the 20" rear wheel adds to the overall strength of the bike.

271Kg is actually 596.2 pounds according to my calculator so round it to 600 pounds for the listed capacity it looks like to me. 500 pounds is 227 Kg.

Neither is a weight that I would like to try to balance on a bicycle personally, particularly while mounting or dismounting.

i've done 300 on my big dummy with 5 bags of concrete mix. two in each freeloader and one on top of the deck. balancing it was no big deal, but getting up the big hill on the way home really sucked.

i've done 300 on my big dummy with 5 bags of concrete mix. two in each freeloader and one on top of the deck. balancing it was no big deal, but getting up the big hill on the way home really sucked.
:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

On the racks I have seen, like the one on my bike, they are held on by two screws down by the wheel, one on each side. Are those two screws really able to support a couple HUNDRED pounds? It seem like they are the weak point of this setup.