|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Factsheet - Cycling to School
The London Cycle Campaign have online factsheets. This could be an
excellent starting point for our factsheet. INTRODUCTION http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=760 Cycling to school allows you to avoid the congestion of the school run, and helps your children to become healthier, happier and more independent and confident. The government has highlighted its concern over increasing levels of obesity in children. Cycling is a great way to combat this. Increasingly schools are promoting cycling for children over 9 years old, and cycle training and cycle proficiency courses are often part of the curriculum. Some schools are still hesitant to encourage students to cycle as they feel it is too dangerous, however lack of exercise and the associated health problems bring far greater risks to children. By cycling to school, children and parents are taking daily exercise which will have immediate benefits as children will be more alert for the day ahead, and long term benefits as both parents and children will become healthier. Whilst cycling to and from school, children are able to socialise with other children who live locally and form connections within their community. Studies have shown that the heavy traffic around schools when parents are dropping off and collecting children makes them especially dangerous areas for all students, including those being delivered by car. By leaving the car at home you will help improve the safety of roads around schools, as well as reducing traffic congestion and pollution. EQUIPMENT CHOICES http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=757 Children are increasingly well catered for in cycle design, from infants and small children who can ride in child seats or in child trailers moving up to tag-alongs and tandems for those slightly older children and then finally on to individual bicycles. Bicycles are now designed to suit almost anyone, including those with disabilities. When cycling with children of different ages you will need to make sure you have the most suitable equipment for your child and for the cycling you will be doing. The age and size of your child will probably be the deciding factors when considering which option is right for you. It is useful to find a bikeshop you can trust to discuss your cycling needs with. For contacts of manufacturers and suppliers of these products please contact the London Cycling Campaign. This can be a difficult decision as there are many options on the market. SELECTING A BIKE http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=765 At some point you will decide it is time to get your child their own bike, generally this will be from 4 years upwards. For any child getting their first bicycle this is very exciting and learning to ride is a wonderful achievement. Depending on the age and confidence of your child the first machine might be a tricycle, come with trainer wheels or stabilisers or you may launch straight into teaching your child to ride solo. Getting the right size bike is important, and you should not think of a bike as something that can be grown into. It is safer to have the right size bike to start with, even if your child will then have to ride a bike that is slightly too small for them later on until you can afford to go to the next size up. A bike that is too big will be hard for them to control and they may not be able to dismount safely. The child should be able to stand astride the bike with both feet on the ground and be able to touch the ground with the toes of one foot when sitting on the seat. As with any bike you should make sure the bike is in good working order and is fitted with a bell and reflectors. LEARING TO RIDE http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=766 You should find a quiet off-road place to teach your child and, if you are taking them out cycling with you, be aware they will not have the same riding skills as an adult. It will take time for them to learn how to ride among other cyclists and pedestrians and to deal with the various obstacles you will automatically avoid. It is not generally advisable to take them on the road until they are 9 or 10 years old. There will no doubt be falls and grazes as they learn. Getting them to wear long sleeves and trousers can help protect them while they get their balance and gain confidence in braking, turning and steering. When they are ready to start cycling on the road, either on their own or with you, you should spend some time riding with them on quiet roads, to ensure they understand road rules and how to cycle safely on the road. It is a good idea to decide on certain roads which they can ride on alone and others which they are not to go on without an adult. Many schools and local authorities will offer cycle training for this age group. There are a couple of points which you should impress on any child who is going to be cycling on the road: - They should take care when they are coming out of a driveway or side road, in a similar manner to crossing a road on foot. They need to give way to other traffic, stop, look right and left and then enter with care. - Never to make a turn, or move sideways on the road without looking over their shoulder first. - When cycling with others, each person must judge the traffic conditions for themselves and make their decisions accordingly: they should not rely on the person in front as traffic conditions can change very quickly. - If they are cycling at night they must have a front white light, rear red light and rear red reflector. CYCLE TRAINING http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=767 One of the best ways to ensure your child will be well prepared for riding on the roads is to enrol them on a cycle training course. Cycle training is offered by many schools and local authorities for children of 9 years and over. It is important that training includes on-road training. Training for younger children may be available in some areas. The government is encouraging schools to support cycling and there have been a number of initiatives to support schools that wish to install cycle parking or provide cycle training. If it is not offered by the school or local authority then there are a number of private cycle training providers you can go to. For further information on these see the section on cycle training or call London Cycling Campaign 020 7234 9310. WHAT TO WEAR http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=759 If you are cycling in cold weather you should dress your child warmly, remember younger children will not be cycling themselves; so while they will get wind chill they will not warm up as they go along. Simarlily in the summer don’t forget to protect your child against the sun. It is also a very good idea to wear high visibility clothing such as reflective vests, armbands and leg straps. Some people choose to wear helmets. It is important for children to understand that helmets do not make them invulnerable, they do not prevent collisions and are only designed to withstand low speed impacts. If you are choosing a helmet it should be neither too loose nor too tight. Toddlers should be able to support the helmet without it forcing their head forward. Helmets should be replaced after an impact such as being dropped, or if you have been in a collision and hit your head. Visit the website section on cycle helmets for further information. |
Ads |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Factsheet - Cycling to School
On Sun, 09 Apr 2006 22:43:02 +0100 someone who may be Tom Crispin
wrote this:- Helmets should be replaced after an impact such as being dropped, Old advice, but it says it all really. Anything so flimsy that it needs to be replaced after being dropped isn't going to provide much protection to a head. -- David Hansen, Edinburgh I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54 |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Factsheet - Cycling to School
David Hansen wrote:
On Sun, 09 Apr 2006 22:43:02 +0100 someone who may be Tom Crispin wrote this:- Helmets should be replaced after an impact such as being dropped, Old advice, but it says it all really. Anything so flimsy that it needs to be replaced after being dropped isn't going to provide much protection to a head. Hardly worth following. If it provides no protection before it was dropped its not going to do worse than provide no protection after it was dropped! -- Tony "The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the right." - Lord Hailsham |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Factsheet - Cycling to School
Old advice, but it says it all really. Anything so flimsy that it needs to be replaced after being dropped isn't going to provide much protection to a head. It may be old advice but it's sound advice. Motorcycle crash helmets can hardly be called flimsy yet the same advice applies to them and has done for at least the past thirty years. A crash helmet is designed as a one-shot safety device. Dropping the helmet onto a hard surface compromises the ability of the shell to perform its primary task. If anything, the care of motor cycle crash helmets was a lot more finicky with the owners being warned about the use of cleaning solvents, stickers, and paints. If I remember correctly ABS helmets were ore prone to solvent damage than GRP. I'm not sure such 'health warnings' are issued with cycle helmets having never owned one. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Factsheet - Cycling to School
Paul Boyd wrote:
Helmets are designed to protect your head against that rare event (hopefully) of a severe impact. No they are not, they are designed to protect your head against a very modest impact only. ...they do provide protection to a head *until* they've been dropped. Ah that's their problem, the moment you start to fall they cease to protect ;-) Dropping a helmet counts as a severe impact. Your and my definition of severe are clearly different I'm sure a rock climber wouldn't rely on damaged ropes They all do. The moment you start to use them they suffer damage; minor damage admittedly. But climbing ropes are designed to work despite all the real life mistreatment of being trod on, snagged on rocks, rubbed on rock edges and through climbing ironmongery etc. And you don't replace them after every minor fall. Cycle helmets it seems are different -- Tony "The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the right." - Lord Hailsham |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Factsheet - Cycling to School
Tom Crispin wrote:
The London Cycle Campaign have online factsheets. This could be an excellent starting point for our factsheet. Is what follows, which I've mostly snipped, one of these factsheets verbatim, or pulled together from several? Whatever, it doesn't address the main problem, the perception that cycling is dangerous. It's useful for those who've decided to cycle to school, but won't help in encouraging anyone else to. This needs to go in para 3 below - hopefully before the uncommitted have stopped reading. Even more of a challenge, the whole thing needs to be shorter and snappier, with pointers to further information at the end. The bit on helmets is quite good, IF the danger issue has been addressed first. Otherwise it is just adding 'and helmets won't make you any safer' to the general idea that cycling is too dangerous. Colin McKenzie INTRODUCTION http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=760 Cycling to school allows you to avoid the congestion of the school run, and helps your children to become healthier, happier and more independent and confident. The government has highlighted its concern over increasing levels of obesity in children. Cycling is a great way to combat this. Increasingly schools are promoting cycling for children over 9 years old, and cycle training and cycle proficiency courses are often part of the curriculum. Some schools are still hesitant to encourage students to cycle as they feel it is too dangerous, however lack of exercise and the associated health problems bring far greater risks to children. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Factsheet - Cycling to School
Tony Raven wrote:
Paul Boyd wrote: I'm sure a rock climber wouldn't rely on damaged ropes They all do. The moment you start to use them they suffer damage; minor damage admittedly. But climbing ropes are designed to work despite all the real life mistreatment of being trod on, snagged on rocks, rubbed on rock edges and through climbing ironmongery etc. And you don't replace them after every minor fall. Or every major fall Otherwise you'd be a bit snookered if someone took a lob half way up a multi-pitch climb... Ropes are rated in part according to the number of factor 2 falls (the biggest fall you can take, falling twice the length of the rope) they can be trusted to take, and it'll typically be around 10-20, not 1. If a rope won't take 5 as tested it won't get a UIAA stamp. Clearly damage is done every time they take a big lob or that number wouldn't be worth relating. The number reduces with time, as time damages ropes. Cycle helmets it seems are different In part because they're not designed to take crashes as routine, which climbing ropes are. Climbing ropes are used very much in the assumption that there is a strong likelihood of taking a lob. Pete. -- Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/ |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Factsheet - Cycling to School
Response to Colin McKenzie:
The bit on helmets is quite good, IF the danger issue has been addressed first. Otherwise it is just adding 'and helmets won't make you any safer' to the general idea that cycling is too dangerous. Which may be quite a psychological shock, IMO. It seems to me that a major motive for wearing a helmet, and forcing a child to wear a helmet, is the need to feel that one is exercising *some* control over an innately and randomly dangerous activity [just as e.g. many bomber pilots during WWII became very superstitious]. This of course is wrong, on three counts: cycling isn't particularly dangerous, helmets won't provide much if any protection, and the dangers are mostly not random and *can* be reduced by training. As you say, I'd stress the non-danger of cycling, and I'd also stress the usefulness of training in making it even safer [not an easy task, I know]. This may not only help to overcome parental fears by allowing them to feel they're doing something to increase the safety of their child, but has the incidental advantage over helmet-promoting rubbish of being true. -- Mark, UK "If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy." |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Factsheet - Cycling to School
Paul Boyd wrote:
David Hansen said the following on 10/04/2006 07:49: Old advice, but it says it all really. Anything so flimsy that it needs to be replaced after being dropped isn't going to provide much protection to a head. Do motorbike helmets look flimsy? Even they should always be replaced when dropped. Helmets are designed to protect your head against that rare event (hopefully) of a severe impact. They are designed to absorb the shock forces themselves by deforming. Once they have been deformed, they should be replaced as they no longer provide protection. Just to spell it out - they do provide protection to a head *until* they've been dropped. Dropping a helmet counts as a severe impact. Would you want to rely on something that has already done it's sole job in life to keep on protecting you? I don't usually wear a helmet, but when I do I handle it with the same care as with any other piece of safety equipment. I'm sure a rock climber wouldn't rely on damaged ropes, and a cyclist shouldn't rely on a damaged helmet. I do wear a motorcycle helmet, and I do sometimes wear a climbing helmet. I have made a special point of selecting those with the kind of construction that can well handle being dropped without damage, i.e. whose shells are made of a fibrous composite rather than a plastic sheet. This business of replace-if-dropped is a neat combination of marketing scam and shoddy construction which no doubt produced jigs round the boardroom table when it was first dreamed up. I can't imagine any other piece of safety equipment where the public would allow manufacturers to get away with such nonsense. Would you buy a pair of protective gloves which had to be replaced if you'd sat on them? A safety rope which had to be replaced if it got dirty? I'm being led to suspect that the cycle-helmet wearing population is uniquely gullible. -- Chris Malcolm +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205 IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK [http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/] |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Factsheet - Cycling to School
Tom Crispin wrote:
The London Cycle Campaign have online factsheets. This could be an excellent starting point for our factsheet. INTRODUCTION http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=760 [...] Whilst cycling to and from school, children are able to socialise with other children who live locally and form connections within their community. I think this is a neglected but important point about cycling. One of the definite benefits to me of doing my usual urban travels by bicycle is that once in every few hourneys I'll meet someone I know and stop and chat to them. Over months this adds up to quite a lot of keeping in contact which I miss out on when using other transport. -- Chris Malcolm +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205 IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK [http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/] |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
cycling to school - advice needed | davek | UK | 174 | February 5th 06 10:17 PM |
Critical Mass - productive campaign to promote cycling or... | The Nottingham Duck | UK | 54 | September 23rd 05 06:33 AM |
FS: Giordana Aspen Cycling School light jacket. Medium-large. | Andrew Karre | Marketplace | 0 | January 27th 05 06:07 PM |
published helmet research - not troll | patrick | Racing | 1790 | November 8th 04 04:16 AM |
Wachovia Cycling Series - Come meet the teams! | Steve | Marketplace | 0 | May 28th 04 02:46 PM |