Is there a legal way a 1 year old can be a passenger on a motorcycle/motor scooter in California?

Why would anyone want to do this? It’s too dangerous.

Maybe with an organ donor card. Seriously, do not do this. Please?

No. In my opinion, only the driver should be on a motorcycle. No passengers at all.

It happens all the time in India and China so it must be safe.

In a size appropriate car seat in a sidecar maybe.

From American Motorcyclist law for California Scroll down to passenger age.

In California, in order to have a passenger, there must be a seat and footrest (though it’s unclear how this is enforced. A baby cannot sit securely on a motocycle, let alone hold on to you or reach the foot rest. The only option would be to ride with them strapped to you, but even then the noise would probably irritate the crap out of them and possibly harm their hearing. They also do not make baby-sized helmets.

While the legal issues may be iffy at best, I think ethically and logically, it is a bad idea to ride a motorcycle with a young child. A bicycle would be safer and more comfortable.

Relevant

I’ve never seen a child this young on a motorcycle and I pray that I never will.

Why would you want to do that and wouldn’t it upset the baby? In addition, wouldn’t it be dangerous? It makes no sense. Does the OP have any idea what a 1 year old baby is like? If they’re not comfortable and happy, they’ll be screaming. Would you want the baby to be frantic? It won’t understand what’s going on.

@johnpowell: Comparing what’s done in India and China is not helpful. In China, they have pallets crammed with dogs, piled 30 feet high. They drop the pallets to the ground, breaking the dogs’ legs, and then skin them alive. Is this something we want to emulate because it’s done in China? (google Chinese dog markets or something like that to verify)

I think you missed my sarcasm.

Maybe buckled into a side car.

I agree, unasfe and foolish, however…I will say I have seen entire families and dogs and mattresses on scooters in Asia. lol
They make an art out of how to transport multiple people, things and species on one scooter.

@talljasperman I’ve never seen those in California. But they’re the number source in the Philippines for travel, it’s called a Tricycle

Hmmm

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc27800.htm

^ That states that a passenger can ride in a side car, provided the side car is designed for passenger use.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc27803.htm

^ That states they need a helmet.

http://www.bikernation.net/calmclaws.htm

^ That’s a good source of links to Bike-related statutes.

I can find nothing saying it is unlawful to attach a car safety seat to a passenger sidecar, nor is there any age limit on motorcycle passengers, provided they have a helmet and footrest or sidecar seat designed for passengers.

Your mileage may vary. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to phone the highway patrol or local law enforcement and ask their opinion on the matter.

http://motorcycles.yakaz.com/sidecar-for-sale-california

^ There’s one resource for passenger side cars for sale.

Gods, this question took a lot of research…

For me, the legality of taking a baby on a motorcycle (with or without sidecar) is only half of the issue.

The other part of the issue is the child’s comfort. Yes they may do this in Asia, but they are probably on local roads going 10 mph in a town or something. Here, people on local roads go 40 mph minimum, usually.

@ucme OMFG. How lucky is she that the bus driver was in complete control and aware of the road in front!

How completely irresponsible…

@jca You see if everyone had full on body armor suits the fear would probably drop by at least 20%