No more Mr Blobbys?!

[observer]

See a Government initiative to encourage kids to use bikes (ww news) is underway.

[Cllr Paul Kenny]

A number of councillors past and present are keen cyclists - Cllr Colin Froggatt springs to mind and former councillor Peter Black.

[asperity]

Err that's two then (including one who isn't a councillor any more). Well it's a start I suppose.

[observer]

[Legion]

"1,900 children throughout Warrington will be safer cyclists thanks to a ?79,000 Government grant"

 

thats ?41 per child... thats a good buget, I expect they should get at least 5 x 1 hour sessions, free helmet and glow safety wear.

 

of course if the money was squandered, we would probably see one or two afterschool clubs with no attendance, but several council officers claiming OT swallowing up all the cash.

[Geoff Settle]

Legion where did you get your facts and figures from can you point me to your source?

[Peter T]

Why can't they go back to Saturday morning training at schools?

 

What I do find worrying, is that we train these kids on road sense, but do nothing about the idiots driving cars recklessly who might marmalise these innocents.

 

What do the cllrs propose to do about this? :confused:

[observer]

Are these "courses" voluntary?

[Paul Kennedy]

Broomfields Junior School, did cycle training a while back, my 11 year old went on it...seemed a good idea...he did a level 1 & level 2 bikeability. He is one of the few children who does ride to school...from time to time.

[Dizzy]

Originally posted by Peter:

What I do find worrying, is that we train these kids on road sense, but do nothing about the idiots driving cars recklessly who might marmalise these innocents.

 

What do the cllrs propose to do about this? :confused:

Exactly !! I certainly WILL NOT allow my son to ride his bike on the roads for that very same reason.

 

I tell him to ride carefully on the pavements and if policeman plod want's to speak to me about him doing that then that's fine by me.

[Legion]

Originally posted by Wireless Geoff Settle:

Legion where did you get your facts and figures from can you point me to your source?

news section of the front page.

 

[observer]

It must be that missing wire again!

[Geoffrey Settle]

Legion I'm referring to the

thats ?41 per child... thats a good buget, I expect they should get at least 5 x 1 hour sessions, free helmet and glow safety wear.

 

of course if the money was squandered, we would probably see one or two afterschool clubs with no attendance, but several council officers claiming OT swallowing up all the cash.

bit or is that an assumption?

 

Did the article really say that there are free helmets and safety wear?

[Legion]

no, that was my idea of money well spent, and if they did give out such items, it would guarantee some kids would turn up if only for the freebee.

[Pete Owens]

Originally posted by Dismayed:

I tell him to ride carefully on the pavements and if policeman plod want's to speak to me about him doing that then that's fine by me.

One of the reasons why cycle training is so desperately needed is that we have lost a generation of parents who have any idea about

safety and give idiotic advice such as the above.

 

Riding on the pavement is much less safe than riding on the carriageway.

[Pete Owens]

Originally posted by observer:

Are these "courses" voluntary?

Yes, the couses are voluntary - they tend to be vastly oversubscribed.

[observer]

So there are inadequate places then?

[Dizzy]

Originally posted by Pete Owens:

Originally posted by Dismayed:

I tell him to ride carefully on the pavements and if policeman plod want's to speak to me about him doing that then that's fine by me.

One of the reasons why cycle training is so desperately needed is that we have lost a generation of parents who have any idea about

safety and give idiotic advice such as the above.

 

Riding on the pavement is much less safe than riding on the carriageway.

'Idiotic Parent'.... thanks for that

 

Could you please explain...

 

1. why I am an idiotic parent?

2. why I apparently have no idea about safety ?

3. and how on earth riding slowly and carefully on the pavement is less safe than riding on a busy carriageway?

[observer]

Don't know about kids; an adult (wearing a baseball cap) passed me, while waiting at a pedestrian crossing ON RED!

[Geoffrey Settle]

Well I think that anything that gets children to ride safely is a good idea. Our local primary schools are participating and report that the children are enjoying the learning experience.

 

I'm sure that they can now teach us adults a thing or two about the rules of the road.

 

[ 28.03.2008, 13:40: Message edited by: Painter Geoff ]

[Pete Owens]

Originally posted by Dismayed:

Could you please explain...

 

1. why I am an idiotic parent?

I didn't say you were an idiotic parent. I said that the advice you gave was idiotic by telling your child to ride on the pavement.

 

2. why I apparently have no idea about safety ?

Because you advise your child to ride in the most unsafe position available. I assume this is through ignorance rather than mallice.

 

Since the demise of the cycling proficiency test about 30 years ago a whole generation has grown up without any training on how to ride a bike. These people have picked up bad habits such as pavement cycling and are now passing these on to their children.

 

3. and how on earth riding slowly and carefully on the pavement is less safe than riding on a busy carriageway?

For the same reason that riding at night without lights is - because it reduces the chance of other drivers seeing you and anticipating your actions.

 

The vast majority of crashes occur at junctions. If you ride on the pavement you will approach the junctuion from a direction that drivers do not expect other traffic. This increases your risk of collision by a roughly factor of 3 if you are riding with the flow of traffic and a factor of 10 if you are riding against it.

 

If you want to get a better understanding of how to cycle safely I would recommend getting a copy of Cyclecraft out of your local library.

[Pete Owens]

Originally posted by observer:

So there are inadequate places then?

At the moment, yes, but the scheme has only been running for a year or so. Hopefully, this latest grant should go some way to improving the situation.

[Dizzy]

Originally posted by Pete Owens:

I didn't say you were an idiotic parent. I said that the advice you gave was idiotic by telling your child to ride on the pavement.

My advice is not idiotic I just care about my childs safety. I'd far rather him ride carefully on a pavement than risk his life riding on a road with all the idiotic drivers who half the time don't even notice other large metal objects along side them (ie cars) let alone a young kid on a push bike.

 

Because you advise your child to ride in the most unsafe position available. I assume this is through ignorance rather than mallice.

Not ignorance or malice but actual sense and being aware of the the probable dangers.

 

Since the demise of the cycling proficiency test about 30 years ago a whole generation has grown up without any training on how to ride a bike. These people have picked up bad habits such as pavement cycling and are now passing these on to their children.

I passed my cycling proficieny and my mother was a keen 'road' cyclist... I'm not knocking training for cyclists at all but the roads are far busier than they used to be and drivers are more often than not distracted by other things.

 

For the same reason that riding at night without lights is - because it reduces the chance of other drivers seeing you and anticipating your actions.

Agree that lights should be used... perhaps all car drivers should be made to take advanced driving tests. This teaches you to not only be aware of what is infront/behind you but also what is going on all around you

[Geoffrey Settle]

Dissy writes

Surely drivers should be able to spot a pedestrian at a junction. Surely a person on the pavement with a bike is a pedestrian.

Eh NO definitely not - for example one cyclist on Friday crossed from one pavement to another as I was signalling to turn left - even a pedestrian wouldn't have done that. Roads are for cyclists not pavements. Just as well I'm still sharp enough - well that's my view - otherwise the kid would have been an ambulance case.

 

I know that its hard cycling on the roads in today's conditions but we should be pressing to make the roads and cycle ways safer and more accessible for cyclist.

[Legion]

cyclist should be forced to take out insurance just the same as any other road user, a condition of the insurance is a test, which can be taken at the age of 13.at this point they can only use the road.

 

until then kids should be able to ride on the pavement or road where thay feel the most comfortable.

 

any kids being stupid around pedestrians, putting others at risk should get a clip round the ear'ole.