Road Safety

Youngsters and Bicycle Safety

Learning to ride a bike is a big step in a child's life. On a bicycle, children experience their first sense of independence and freedom. Biking also develops reflexes, strengthens muscles and is excellent exercise.

Children who do not receive adequate training, however, may face life-threatening situations. Go to the heading “Sources of Danger” to find out about common errors made by inexperienced cyclists. We recommend discussing them with children and underscore how important they are because they can result in serious accidents.

To teach children to ride safely, you can do more than merely giving them a few lessons. Bring children along with you and allow them to pedal as you watch over them. Have them practise making stops and turns, and teach them what to do if something unexpected happens. Stress the importance of looking over their shoulder each time before making a turn.

Supervise young cyclists. Listening to and observing traffic is an essential skill for riding a bike. If you children want to ride alone, to go to school for instance, help them prepare by riding the route with them several times to point out potential dangers and teach them safe cycling behaviour.

Children under age nine should only ride a bicycle in the company of a responsible adult or on a safe route. Most children this age do not have the skills necessary to ride a bicycle safely without supervision. To find out more, go to the heading “Children and Traffic”.