You be the jury: Is the back of a motorcycle too dangerous for young girl?

Dori challenged his listeners to be the jury after receiving an email from a Washington mom.

In the email, a mother told Dori that her ex-husband often takes their 9-year-old daughter on the back of his motorcycle down roads with 60 mph speed limits. The woman explained that she and her ex get along very well, except for this one disagreement — a disagreement that has been going on since the child was 5.

According to the email, the ex-husband is a big fan of Dori’s show, and the woman said that she believes her child’s father would listen if Dori told him his actions were too dangerous.

Dori said that he was very torn on the question and needed the help of his listeners.

“That feels dangerous to me — that feels too dangerous,” he said initially.

Dori praised the parents’ ability to maintain a friendly co-parenting plan, saying, “I love how she describes the dad’s relationship with his daughter — they’re out in the woods, they’re going fishing in Alaska. It sounds like he’s a great dad.”

Dori noted that the texts and emails were about 60-40 that the dad should not ride with the daughter. Callers also favored the dad not riding, with a 4-2 ratio.

Julie from Kirkland said that she has been working in hospitals for a decade and has seen numerous motorcycle accidents. She called letting a child ride on the back of a motorcycle “a deathtrap.”

“It’s usually not the person on the motorcycle, but it’s some dumb driver not paying attention or texting while they’re driving,” she said. “And I’ve hooked up numerous patients to feeding tubes because they can’t eat, they can’t swallow, they can’t function, they’ve become paraplegics.”

Dave from Edmonds said that the two parents are doing “a great job” but observed that the roads in the Puget Sound are too hazardous due to the number of people on their phones. Dave said he drives 40,000 miles a year in this region and that “the number of people on their phones is just astonishing.”

Maud from Everett agreed that the number of car drivers on cellphones makes the highways very dangerous for a motorcyclist. He said that he also rides a motorcycle, but would never take his 8-year-old daughter on the back with him.

“It would be really hard to manage that and have my kid on the back, you know being a kid, and try to keep her safe from other folk,” he said. “I would love to take her out, but I just don’t trust other drivers.”

Mike on Whidbey said that he just returned from a motorcycle trip to Chelan. He said that wind currents would make holding onto the bike difficult for a child, noting that “9-year-olds don’t have the strength to hold on tight enough.”

On the other side of the debate, Dave from Rochester contended that the dad “is not doing anything illegal.”

“It is his choice what he does with his daughter,” Dave said. “He has just as much right as the mother does.”

Dave said that he himself is divorced and co-parents with his ex, observing that “the reality is that both parents have decision-making capability and … you can’t control what the other parent does.”

Bob in Shoreline criticized “helicopter parents who want to inflict their own fears onto their child.” If the girl wants to ride the motorcycle, she should be able to, he said.

Bob said that he took his daughter on his own motorcycle when she was a child, and that she loved it so much that she now has a bike of her own.

“It’s a great experience for kids,” he said.

The verdict

After hearing and reading everyone’s input, Dori gave his verdict — he does not believe the dad should take the child on the back of the bike.

“My honest gut reaction is twofold,” Dori said. “Number-one, I do think it’s too dangerous for the kid because of all of the morons on the road. And also, it sounds like the ex-husband and wife have a really good relationship — why screw that up?”