CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 14years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
Very interesting.
none of whom drive or are learning to drive
Probably next year, though?
quite an extensive list from children who don't drive!
No doubt years of listening in the back seat of the car to parents grumbling about ****ing cyclists "getting in the way".
They couldn't have rattled off their times tables as easily.
That's what calculators are for.
Anyway, I thought Scots teenagers were all too busy getting drunk and having sex? Oh, that's the 15 year olds...
I hear that from younger kids. eg 'My mum hates cyclists' When we were on the nippie sweetie a wee boy came up to a group of us and said " excuse me yooz were blocking the whole road''..... much to the chagrin of his mother.......
now in print -
Why more and more children cycle to school
Cycling to school is becoming
more popular than ever.
Cycling to school is great
for kids.
It's a fun way to get exercise and
healthier kids are happier, more
self-confident and find it easier
to concentrate in class.
Cycling to school Is great for
drivers.
With more children cycling to
school, fewer parents have to do
the school run. This cuts down
on traffic congestion for people
commuting to work and makes
the drive quicker and easier.
Cycling to school Is great for
parents.
It means your child is getting
a large portion of their 60
minutes of daily exercise just
by going to school. It gives kids
independence and freedom,
boosting their self-confidence.
It means you don't have to ferry
them to school, saving you time.
And it's free.
But you probably know all that
already. What you perhaps
didn't know, are the lengths
we're going to, to make
cycling to school safer than it's
ever been.
Cycle training helps build your
child's confidence.
The Bikeability Scotland scheme
has replaced the training many
of us received when we were
kids. It's designed to be fun and
informative and gives children
the skills they need to cycle on
today's roads. There are three
levels of Bikeability Scotland,
which starts out with basic
skills in the playground, and
progresses right through to
making independent journeys
on the road network. 70% of
Scotland's schools are already
delivering Bikeability Scotland
training, with more joining the
scheme every year.
Cycle Friendly Schools.
More and more of Scotland's
schools are becoming Cycle
Friendly Schools. The award is
given to schools that support
cycling as part of the school
culture by providing the right
facilities, training and promotion
to encourage children to travel
by bike. There are over 130 Cycle
Friendly Schools in Scotland,
covering 36,000 pupils.
Safer roads.
The common
perception
seems to
be that the
roads today
are more
dangerous
than ever, but
that's really
not true. The
number of children involved in
an accident cycling to school
has halved in the last ten years,
and the number of children
hurt by cycling in general has
declined by 76% in that time.
In 2010 around 16,000 children
were cycling to school on a
regular basis, yet there were just
13 reported accidents.
Support the campaign and
give kids cycle space.
Despite all that, we know that
letting children cycle to school is
still a concern for some parents.
That's why we're asking drivers
everywhere to look out for
child cyclists, slow down when
passing them and give them as
much space on the roads as
possible. Our national Give Me
Cycle Space campaign alms
to create greater awareness of
children cycling to school and
make the school gates a more
cycle friendly place.
www cycllngscotland.org
Over 36,000 children already
go to a Cycle Friendly School
Over 16,000 children already
cycle to sckool regularly.
70% of Scotland's schools
deliver Bikeability training.
Using quiet roads and cycle paths
can help you avoid busier roads.
20mph zones around schools
make cycling safer than ever.
Why more and more
children cycle to school
Speaking with 3 Mums at local Primary School on Friday. They would love to cycle to school with their children (they currently walk to school) but they are nervous and unsure about correct road position – children before/after and what to do when road narrows.
chdot - “If you are talking about schools, just needs two or three parents willing to do the same route at the same time each day.”
These parents would definitely give it a go if someone competent and knowledgeable did the school run with them a few times. Any volunteers out there?
@AIMC - my preference is for two abreast, with the child on the inside. Only dropping into single file, secondary position, when it is safe to do so. In single file, the child is in front, so can still be observed.
Similarly for three children, two up front, followed by the final child and the adult on the outside.
For just two kids, I'm less certain - I ended up with myself and younger child leading with the older child trailing behind. This was never entirely satisfactory as gaps opened up too frequently.
The outside position carries with it a bit more responsibility as you're controlling the traffic more, and calling/deciding when to drop into single file.
I'm now grooming the eldest for more independent cycling, so I've placed her in the front outside position, and I'm now trailing so that I can observe her and coach as necessary. I'm much less comfortable with this, but it seems necessary to develop her skills!
Robert
@AIMC What is the local primary school?
Safety and confidence are often two different animals.
For safety you want the pro at the back so he or she can take as aggressive a primary as is needed.
For confidence you want the pro at the front so the novice knows where to put the bike.
If there's a solution to this obvious logical trap, please tell me what it is. It's have two pros, I know.
"If there's a solution to this obvious logical trap, please tell me"
Simple answer (apart from more than one adult) is to do both.
Lead and show and then let them go ahead while you observe what they have learned.
As always - depends on 'circumstances'. Busyness, road width etc.
'Continuous risk assessment.'
Welcome AIMC.
"They would love to cycle to school with their children"
That's good to hear!
Presumably there are already some parents cycling who could help.
"Any volunteers out there?"
I'm sure there are a few people here who c/would help.
Might be better if, initially, a 'session' was organised at a w/e - probably less traffic and no stress of 'getting to school on time'.
@AIMC suggest you direct those parents (and others) to http://edinburgh.cyclestreets.net/journey/?customlink=1
- you can put in a 'to' pin for your school so they can start looking at route possibilities.
CycleStreets is usually good at finding routes/cut throughs that not everyone is aware of.
On the general point about giving cyclists space, I still remember something I saw on TV years and years and years ago.
It was a documentary about police drivers, and in this case we were riding with a police driver escorting an ambulance at high speed through a busy city. He was giving a running commentary as he powered across the city with lights flashing and sirens wailing. As he approached one junction with the ambulance close behind he said "I'm making it clear that we're going to need lots of room here". I think he was referring to his road position and his need to get drivers well out of his way.
Now it's hard to miss two emergency vehicles in full cry, but it's interesting how he felt he needed 'lots of room' all the same.
I suspect that many cyclists don't assertively make it clear that they, too, need 'lots of room'. This must be particularly difficult to teach to less-confident children...
"
City Council has passed a new bicycle safety ordinance requiring vehicles to maintain a three-foot passing distance when passing bicyclists, and banning cars from driving or parking in bike lanes.
"
Not Edinburgh then...
I can't help my family as I live an hour out of town but I can help others in town. If you (AIMC) want to have a go at cycling in to school, I and I'm sure one or two others could offer help riding with you. Of course I'd probably have to ride to work after seeing the children in school.
"
Tim Kraan (@timkraan)
18/06/2012 19:13
Ontario needs a one-meter passing rule for cyclists, coroner says http://bit.ly/M5NyIS #bikeTO
"
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