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IS CYCLING TO SCHOOL REALLY SAFE IN 2010?

We are constantly being reminded of just how important it is to ensure our children are getting enough regular exercise. However, our busy lifestyles mean it’s often difficult to find the time to fit in essential activities that will keep our kids active and healthy.

Cycling rather than driving to school each morning will help make sure you and your kids get enough regular exercise, while still leaving you enough time to fit everything else in. Ditching the car also means you’ll avoid the tedious rush hour traffic, not to mention significantly reducing your carbon footprint at the same time.

Cycling with your children every day gives you the chance to spend quality time with them, as well as enforcing good habits and a healthy mentality for many years to come. Many parents love the idea of cycling to school with their kids, but are understandably deterred by the dangers of the road, or often simply don’t feel comfortable enough with their own ability or knowledge of cycling to be completely safe on the road. The vast majority of these parents would be surprised by how simple it is to cycle to school with their kids in tow. A little bit of planning and preparation will certainly help you enjoy the benefits of cycling, without worrying about the safety of your children.

Before you begin riding to school as a family, it’s important that you visit a bike specialist to check for any discrepancies. Small malfunctions to your brakes, tyres or chain can cause serious accidents and injuries on the road. Once you’ve done this, it’s really important to learn how to carry out regular maintenance to make sure that your lights and reflectors are working, the tyres are in good condition, your chain is oiled and well adjusted, the saddle and handlebars are adjusted correctly for your height, and above all, that your brakes are working!

While you are in the bike shop, you should invest in some safety equipment. Helmets are absolutely essential for cycling! The NHS estimates that 50% of all cyclist admissions to A&E are for head or facial injuries. Sadly the majority of cyclists killed on the UK’s roads die from head injuries. Quite simply, wearing a correctly fitted helmet could save your life. If you are going to be riding in the dark installing lights on your bike, as well as making sure you wear some sort of reflective or florescent clothing, will make it a lot easier for other road users to see you. During the winter months when the days are shorter, cyclists who can’t be seen by drivers are putting themselves at serious risk.

To help make your journey to school as safe as possible, you should plan the best route from your home to the school gates. This doesn’t mean finding the flattest or quickest route; instead you should try to ride through parks, quiet streets, and in particular, along cycle lanes. To help feel more confident on the road, you should arrange some practice sessions with your children in a local park to ensure you are all satisfied riding together before you start travelling on the road. Studying a copy of the Highway Code with your kids will help them understand the rules of the road, as well as informing them of what they need to do to stay safe at all times.

When you first start riding on the road with your kids it’s really important to set a good example. Stopping at traffic lights, keeping on the correct side of the road, as well as signalling at turnings are really important elements of road safety that your kids need to follow. If they don’t see you carrying out these manoeuvres, they probably won’t either so try to be reliable role model to them.

Children just love bringing their friends along for the ride to school. As long as you feel that their friends are able enough to cycle on the road, then this shouldn’t be a problem. When you are on the road with a group of children, as the responsible adult you need to be aware of where they all are at all times. Cycling at the front of the group whilst regularly checking behind is the best way to keep an eye on the whole group. If you find any of the children are lagging behind you should stop and let them catch up.

After investing the time and money to get your kids cycling you really don’t want them to have their bikes stolen. So, it’s important they understand how to properly lock up their bikes by ringing the lock through the frame and not just the wheels, locking their bikes to a fixed structure, as well as removing any lights or quick-release parts that could easily be removed by criminals.

Although not all the roads in the UK present cycle lanes for you and your children to travel with total peace of mind, most parents would agree that introducing a cycle run to their daily routine helps everyone stay healthy, resulting in more quality time together which as you know, is something we could all benefit from!

For further information on cycle equipment and security solutions for your school, visit . . .

www.barriersdirect.co.uk