The dangers of cargo bikes

My first encounter with the cargo bicycle came more than ten years ago. I was a features writer at the Sunday Telegraph and had three very small children; my assignment was to spend a few weeks trying out three different designs for ferrying kids and shopping and then reach a verdict on which was best.

What is a cargo bike, I hear you ask? Put simply, it is a monumental pain in the arse. It is either a bicycle or a tricycle with a box bolted to the front, in which you put your children and other things. It is about three-quarters of the width of a family car, meaning that when it comes to size, it occupies that infuriating twilight zone between bicycle and motor vehicle, while in terms of speed, it goes no faster than 8mph. (In the intervening decade since my dalliance, e-bike technology has come a long way.