Child Cycling Injury Fears Over Cautious?

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12
Jul

RoSPA the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has entered the current debate about whether children should cycle to school or not, due to fears over accidents and injuries.

Some experts on safety are starting to wonder whether societal anxiety over child cycling injuries is now doing more harm than good. Some feel that an entire generation of children look set to miss out on cycling to school because of worries about Road Traffic Accidents (RTA).

Many people are overreacting about cycling safety says the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, despite the worrying annual accident figures for children cyclists.

The debate about child cycling has been ignited recently due to a high profile case involving London parents who allow their five year old son and eight year old daughter to ride to school.

The parents have been reported as saying they want to teach their children independence and responsibility. In return the family has been criticised by their school authorities and even threatened with intervention from Social Services.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has been following the debate with interest.

“One of RoSPA’s central principles is that life should be as safe as necessary, not as safe as possible. Children develop valuable skills for life when they are given opportunities to get out and about to experience risks and learn how to cope with them, says Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA’s Chief Executive.

“RoSPA encourages children to cycle and advises parents to ensure their children have had some formal cycle training before they are allowed to ride on and near roads unsupervised.

“In addition to formal training, parents are well placed to know about their children’s skills and maturity, as well as the nature of the area in which they live. They can use this information to make decisions about whether to allow their children to use the roads unsupervised, either as a cyclist or pedestrian.”

Significant numbers of children UK wide appear to be facing pro-active official discouragement and even bans against cycling to and from school, cycle campaigners have long warned.

Many school authorities say that children should not cycle to school due to fears about accident injuries.

Having said that the concern of both those parents and authorities who are taking a cautious approach is understandable.

New statistics released from the World Health Organisation have identified that a significant number of the 1.27 million people who die in Road Traffic Accidents annually are cyclists, with younger people especially at risk.

RoSPA says in the UK alone every year over 16,000 cyclists are killed or injured in reported road accidents, including around 2,500 who are killed or seriously injured.

About one quarter of the cyclists killed and injured are children.

Accidents involving child cyclists are often the result of the child playing, doing tricks, riding too fast or losing control.

Largely as a result of fears driven by the accident statistics, it is now thought that less than one per cent of secondary and primary school children cycle to school, with many taking car and bus runs instead – so there are also health issues to consider as children miss out on a key component of an active lifestyle.

Tom Mullarkey says the current debate is important because it reignites discussions about safer cycling in general.

He said: “We often hear that people would like to use their bikes but decide not to due to safety fears.

“We want more people to cycle and we therefore need to stay focused on improving the safety of cyclists. Good training and awareness, for both motorists and cyclists is crucial, and we would encourage greater creativity, particularly when it comes to children cycling.”

RoSPA encourages an expansion in cycle route networks and the introduction of ‘cycling buses’ for children’s journeys to and from school, similar to ‘walking buses’ that some areas already use, thereby allowing children to cycle more safely in numbers and get some exercise.

From 2008 to 2009 the number of cyclists seriously injured in the UK rose by six per cent from 2,450 to 2,606.

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