Children get bike safety boost (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Children get bike safety boost

11:26am Saturday 1st November 2008 in

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It is estimated that one in every five cars queuing in morning rush-hour traffic is on a school run.

Now, in response, a concerted effort to get the Bradford district’s children on their bikes has been stepped up a gear.

Cycling voluntary project Crank It Up is extending its safety training programme in schools. Its cycling instructor, Chris Armstrong, has so far visited schools in Shipley and Bradford carrying out National Standards training with youngsters.

And today sees the launch of a Bradford Council pilot scheme to roll out cycling proficiency test Bikeability across the district.

Both training programmes are aimed at children above the age of ten to provide them with the skills needed to ride short journeys on their bikes.

The training includes how to negotiate junctions, left and right turns and how to be aware of car drivers.

Mr Armstrong said: “I think it encourages them to get out on their bikes and by having the training I think they can do it much safer.

“Hopefully the end result will be that they make more journeys on the road to get them cycling to and from school, which will also cut down the amount of congestion at school time.”

The voluntary project has run courses at St Anthony’s Primary School and St Walburga’s Catholic Primary School in Shipley, with help from Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust funding.

Crank It Up chairman Chris Evans said: “We have further developed the on-road cycle training with our funding from the tPCT since we recruited Chris.”

Graham Moore, head of commissioning for partnership programmes at the tPCT, said cycling is one of the easier ways people can become more active.

He said: “Funding schemes such as Crank It Up is a good way of encouraging people across the district to be more physically active, and cycling is one of the easier, more accessible and popular ways that people can do this.”

The cycling group is starting to make a real impact in the city.

As well as providing on-road training, the group runs a bicycle re-cycling project. It collects old or unwanted bikes for repair and offers them to people without a bike or for training use.

The group, in fact, has been so successful with this it was awarded the O2 It’s Your Community Award earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the Council pilot scheme was beginning today as pupils returned to schools from their half-term break.

The Government initiative to roll out the Bikeability test looks towards similar achievements as the National Stan-dards second-level certificates.

Paul Hart, assistant transport planner with the Council, said schools across the district had been targeted as part of the pilot.

He said: “It will allow children to be able to train on-road and to gain the skills necessary to be able to do a short journey – from home to school maybe, or a short journey from home to the shops. It’s very important that children do learn how to ride their bikes properly.

“There are not a lot of cycle accidents, but if parents are going to buy their child a bike for Christmas then the child really needs teaching properly.

“With the knowledge they have learned they will be able to signal properly and know where they should be in the road when they are turning left or right.”

Mr Hart said the three levels of Bikeability mirrored the three levels for the National Standards certificates.

He said more and more cycle training for children was moving out of the playground and on to the road.

“Previously Bradford has only ever done cycle training in the playground and there’s obviously a big push to try to get children out of cars and one of the ways to do that is to try to persuade them to cycle to school,” Mr Hart said.

“If we are trying to persuade these children to cycle to school then we need to be able to give them the skills to do so.”

The amount of cars on the road is always more noticeable during school holidays when roads appear to be a clear haven of empty highways.

While there are obvious benefits to reducing this congestion and encouraging children to do more exercise many parents may well be concerned about their children cycling on the road.

Both Crank It Up and the Council, however, do not expect children trained to embark on a bike ride from, say, Bingley to Cleckheaton. The training emphasises how bikes really can be used for short journeys.

Mr Hart said: “Parents may well be frightened of their child going to school by bike but if they allow their child to do the training then when they send their child out on their bike they will have the skills to know what they are meant to be doing, for example, if they have to cross the road.

“We are not looking at ten-year-olds going from Bingley to Shipley – we are looking at people riding from their house to their local school or shops.”

The news may also come as a welcome relief to pedestrians fed up of youngsters cycling on the pavement – an activity which, as Mr Hart points out, is illegal.

He said: “Many children, I’m sure, tell their parents they don’t go on the road, but legally, that is where they are meant to be.”

Bradford’s cycle champions officer Viv Carnea, of national organisation Cyclists’ Touring Club, agreed that safety training coupled with parents’ guidance, could produce safe routes for children to cycle to school. She said: “Cycling to school certainly can be safe if parents identify a route that is appropriate for particular children.

“As more people cycle the motorists adapt and that has been found in places like York where motorists are more used to cyclists so the roads are safer.”

In certain areas schools have also been able to apply for grants through the Schools Sport Partnerships, meaning more Bikeability training will be able to be funded.

As a result, Bradford Council would like to hear from more schools, particularly in the Keighley and Ilkley areas, to bring in the training.

The pilot scheme will end in March, when the Council will apply for more funding.

Funding gained through the School Sports Partnerships will last until July.

Mr Hart said: “If parents want their child taught properly to ride on the roads then they need to contact their school to get their schools interested.”

Parents, schools or anyone else interested in organising on-road cycle training can contact Crank It Up by e-mail ing crank-it-up@hotmail.com or by phoning 07835 840989.

Alternatively, visit the website crank-it-up.org.uk where more information on National Standards training is available.