A viral video in Indonesia demonstrates why the utmost care is necessary when taking a small child for a ride on a motorcycle (though, for safety’s sake, it’s better not to take them, period) and why putting them in front of the driver is incredibly dangerous and should be avoided at all costs.
Yesterday, this CCTV footage from a minimarket in Indonesia went viral after it was posted on Instagram. The footage shows a man driving a motorcycle with a small child sitting in front of him. After he parks at the convenience store, he goes to put the child down on the ground but the tot, who is holding on to the handlebar, accidentally pulls the throttle, causing the motorcycle to launch forward:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgfNYmhB8E-/?utm_source=ig_embed
The motorcycle smashes through the minimarket’s glass doors before it falls on its driver. Miraculously, the child appears to be fine and even tries to help other shoppers lift the motorcycle off of the driver.
There have so far been no official reports regarding the driver or the child’s injuries.
After the video went viral, safe driving consultants warned that giving small children rides on motorcycles is inadvisable.
“As long as children can’t reach their feet to the footholds below [the pillion], it would be safer to not to take them for a ride at all. If absolutely forced, then bring another adult [to sit behind the child],” said Andry Berlianto, a safe driving instructor at Rifat Drive Labs in Jakarta, as quoted by Detik yesterday.
Andry added that it’s important to switch off the motorcycle as soon as it comes to a stop to prevent similar accidents and that, if for some reason a child is riding in front of the driver, then it’s best to carry them down to the left as most throttles are situated on the motorcycle’s right handle.
Parents riding with small children on motorcycles are unfortunately very common in Indonesia, where seeing families of three, four, or even more on a single motorcycle (the legal limit is, in fact, one driver and one passenger per motorcycle) is an everyday occurrence. And, as in the video above, it’s also very common to see neither the adults nor the children wearing helmets.
