Cycle News Monday, January 24, 2005

Fear over kids' lack of cycle training

Thousands of children in Northern Ireland are risking their lives on bikes due to a lack of formal cycling training, claims research out today.

The study, carried out by fuel company Jet as part of its Roadsense initiative, showed that 79% of children in Northern Ireland have not taken their cycling proficiency test.

The research also revealed that parents would like to see much tougher safety standards introduced for children.

Nearly 90% of the 1,350 parents across the UK who responded to the survey said a formal cycling test should be compulsory for children before they can cycle on the road.

Nationally, approximately 100,000 children are injured and more than 1,300 under-16s are seriously injured or killed in cycling accidents.

Roy Roley, Jet Roadsense campaign manager, said formal training should be introduced to ensure the safety of children.

"Nobody would consider letting a 17-year-old drive a car on the road without any formal training, so why do we put our children in such a vulnerable situation on their bikes? It doesn't make any sense.

"Road safety officers are committed to providing some form of cycling training either through cycling proficiency or other similar schemes.

"However, the fact is that many children are slipping through the net - either choosing not to do the test or through lack of awareness of cycling training.

"If the test were made compulsory every child would be safer on their bike," he said.

In response to the survey, Jet has launched a RoadSense scheme which is designed to promote safe and sensible road use.

The campaign will kick off with the launch of a "virtual" cycling test in the spring to ensure that the road safety message reaches as many young cyclists as possible.

Mr Roley said: "Our online cycling test will be fun and interactive for children."


(Source: belfasttelegraph.co.uk)