Originally Posted by Cyclaholic
Not a comment on the utilitarian Dutch bikes (I luv 'em!) but generally about carrying small children on bikes. If I take a tumble so be it, you can usually roll or baill off the bike and tumble - I'll grow new skin and even bones heal eventually, but the thought of my child smacking the pavement just sends shivers down my spine. I don't know, maybe I'm a little irrational about it because I'm so protective of my kids, but it seems to me that it's a looong way down for a little kid from the back of an adult sized bike... even at a very slow speed.
I don't want to start a debate but to point out another issue with what you've said...Your fears are rational in that your child might get hurt should your bike topple over and they hit the ground. But, if you get in an accident in an automobile, the forces are 30-60 times that of the gravity that will be pulling your kid towards the ground off the bike. Yet people don't think twice about loading their kid into a car.