TOKYO —

Bicycle manufacturers launched models strong enough to be ridden by an adult plus two small children Wednesday as the ban on riding bikes with two kids was lifted in almost all prefectures across Japan. The move resulted from strong objections to the ban from mostly mothers, prompting the National Police Agency to issue safety standards for bicycles suitable for being ridden with two children earlier this year. The agency had previously attempted to fully enforce the ban. As the new models are priced higher than conventional bicycles, ranging from 60,000 yen to less than 200,000 yen, some local governments, such as the Maebashi city office in Gumma Prefecture, are moving to subsidize purchases.
   
Under the safety standards the NPA released in April, riders should be at least 16 years old and can carry up to two children less than 6 years old on special auxiliary seats installed at the front and the rear of the bike. Bikes that meet the standards are marked with either a BAA, or Bicycle Association (Japan) Approved, sticker or an SG, or Safety Goods, sticker of the Consumer Product Safety Association. Those riding nonstandard bikes with two children could be fined, but the police agency plans to start issuing directions and warnings instead until the sale of new models becomes full-fledged and the public gets thoroughly acquainted with the rules, an agency official said.

Kyodo

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13 Comments

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  buggerlugs at 03:12 PM JST - 1st July

  Great so now the police will be harrassing mothers who ride bicycles and not just pretty young women (yes I've been keeping count of who the police have stopped whilst I'm riding my bike ) why is Tokyo not going to subsidize? They need it much more than gunma where most people drive. Heres a thought for the lil jcops... Enforce child seats!!

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  smithinjapan at 03:14 PM JST - 1st July

  The government is going to subsidize the purchase of bikes that make something that should be illegal legal?! Try subsidizing Education more! that way idiots might see that just because someone complains about something it isn't any more safe, and bans shouldn't be lifted.

  My god the Japanese are daft!

  All this means is that there are THOUSANDS if not MILLIONS of bikes that are out there that are NOT safe, and I seriously doubt the police are going to be stopping every mama-chari bike to see if it's the new deal.

  I guess it'll only take the deaths of more children for parents to realize their mistakes. A VERY sad fact when this is the case.

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  as_the_crow_flies at 03:17 PM JST - 1st July

  They could do what other countries do and start using low trailers here. Much more stable, manoevrable and practical than these dumb#ss, only in Japan heavy designs. "Less than 200,000 yen"? What a joke. They have to make up their own designs and come up with useless, lumbering, small-wheeled clunkers that will only be good while you have two children under 6. After that, you're stuffed. Why don't local councils lease them out instead? If they started planning for adequate parking space for bikes, as an environmentally friendly, healthy alternative, then they could gradually make room for bikes with trailers at bike parks. Just have some planning laws with teeth so that gradually there could be more public space in places around stations, so they can actually design spaces that work. Oh, and they could try studying other places that manage to do it more successfully than Japan and see what needs changing here in order to bring it about. But expect more thumb twiddling, mutually contradicting regulations and unenforced laws that nobody actually knows about anyway.

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  Bungalow at 03:24 PM JST - 1st July

  they mean the bicycles they have been making are not strong enough for one more child?

  To be safe, should they be strong or should they be more stable?

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  fishy at 03:34 PM JST - 1st July

  I'd recommend people to buy helmets for little kids before buying those strong bikes.

  there was a bike safety rally @ my son's school the other day, and there were just TWO kids who wore helmets.. only 2 !!! --- sigh...

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  cnc at 03:43 PM JST - 1st July

  I have a much easier solution...stop making babies...oh! I forgot, Japan is already on the forefront there.

  It sometimes seems like a joke. On one hand the government wants to do everything to raise the birthrate here and when they actually implement their policies they actually end putting up more and more hurdles.

  How do you think the reaction of a population, which prefers pets over children because the latter costs more, when they are forced into the option of buying bicycles that cost 200,000yen. Typical government solution to this is throwing money at subsidies.

  Also what about the roads. Outside major cities, riding a bicycle alone is an open invitation to death let alone riding with children. Why? because vehicle speeds are faster and sidewalks are non existent in places where people actually live.

  Plus, like how they killed their motorcycle industry, the govt will impose bigger fines on parking illegally without actually creating practical and adequate parking for bicycles....I forgot that here they just take your bicycle away and not just ticket it..

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  stirfry at 04:01 PM JST - 1st July

  2 thousand bucks for a crappy local made bicycle...you're having a laugh

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  notimpressed at 04:09 PM JST - 1st July

  I still fail to find anything safe at all about riding a bike with a baby in a basket anywhere, let alone on Japanese streets.

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  BeaverCleaver at 06:36 PM JST - 1st July

  I am sure those tanks they are calling bicycles in Japan could support three people if there was a place to put them.

  What they need are good foot pads on the rear axle, done. Its good because the rear rider can dismount instantly as they are, literally, already on their toes.

  But one parent two kid bikes are a bad idea. Trikes would be smarter.

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  smithinjapan at 06:42 PM JST - 1st July

  Beaver: "But one parent two kid bikes are a bad idea. Trikes would be smarter."

  BINGO! It's unsafe enough with all the women getting off their bikes one foot at a time (still riding), having the weight of two kids (or just two baskets full of groceries), an umbrella, a visor so that those oncoming can't see your eyes and where you might be looking to turn, etc., now they're going to be throwing MORE weight on the things?

  If enough ojisan complain that drunken driving laws and penalties are inconvenient, will they just start reinforcing cars and letting people freely drive drunk? Safe is safe, same as unsafe is unsafe. Practicality doesn't come into it.

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  kirakira25 at 12:52 AM JST - 2nd July

  So does this mean that the current bikes are NOT strong enough for an adult and two children???

  I agree that a mama-chari is not the safest form of transport (although we do what we can with proper kick-stands and making the kids wear helmets) but in some areas it is the ONLY way for mums with more than 1 child to get around anywhere. I have had this argument on here before when people told me to take a bus to the supermarket or to the kindergarten - there are no buses that run there and strapping my kids into the bicycle with helmets on feels much safer than trying to cross abusy dual carriageway with two loose toddlers and loaded down with shopping so I can't hold their hands.

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  nemoflow at 02:07 AM JST - 2nd July

  Marketing hype at best.

  I can say with conviction, that injuries/deaths sustained from carrying 2 children on a bike are going to be 99.9% of the time due to the main rider not know how the hell to ride a bike, rather than mechanical failure.

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  nemoflow at 02:13 AM JST - 2nd July

  Also, how is this dumb rule going to apply to bikes build from high end components? I can safely, for example, say that my Yeti 303 is stronger than any bike made in Japan today, and that sure as hell doesn't have a BAA sticker on it.

  Money grabbing tactics wrapped up in nanny-state molly-coddling.

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