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Last Updated: Sat 17 May, 10:01 am BST

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Childhood cycling in steep decline

By Mark Appleton

At the start of Britain’s Bike to School Week (May 6 – 9) Cycling England has highlighted what it calls a ‘lost generation’ of cyclists as worried parents prevent their offspring from riding on the nation’s roads. 

The government-backed agency claims this parental fear about the dangers of traffic has given rise to what have been labelled ‘cul-de-sac kids’ – youngsters who never ride their bikes much further than the end of the road.

According to research conducted on behalf of the agency, the most common age at which present-day parents were able to cycle on the roads was 10 – but for their offspring that age has risen to 12. The research found that while one in three parents (35%) were allowed to cycle to school, only one in five (18%) allow their children to do so today - with just 4% of children actually cycling to school regularly.

Parents are no longer giving their children the run of local roads.  Over three quarters of parents (81%) ban their children from cycling independently, or limit their children’s cycling to their immediate road or neighbourhood streets.

The biggest reason offered by parents for not letting their child cycle was the issue of safety (36%) and this fear has resulted in a situation where, according to the survey, over a quarter of children (29%) are only allowed to cycle with adult supervision. 

Phillip Darnton, Chairman of Cycling England, said:  

“Concern about safety is understandable, but we need to remember that on-road accidents are in long term decline.  Every parent will want to ensure their children are kept safe, but they can’t live out their lives within the shadows of the cul-de-sac, never able to venture further away from home. This is particularly important, as we know that cycling to school, to friends, or just as a fun activity in its own right, can play a hugely positive role in the development of a child’s independence. I urge schools to come forward and offer Bikeability training as part of the push to get children cycling.” 

But is such training really the key to allaying the fear of parents or does the problem lie in the lack of proper cycling infrastructure coupled with the volume and speed of traffic in modern day Britain? Should Cycle England focus more on promoting traffic-calming measures, cycle paths, signage and driver education? Log in below and have your say.

User Comments

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  • It's obviously going into decline because of the proportion of traffic now on the roads - i.e. in the 50s 60s and 70s lots of children cycled, but there was less traffic than there is now. There is a direct correlation. It doesn't matter about accident statistics - they will rise as soon as more people start riding anyway.

  • The roads surrounding the schools are filled with the worse drivers of all, the parents on the 'school run', big cars up on the kerb, stopped in the road, normally on the school keep clear markings, everyone rushing. Complete ignorance and chaos. My daughter's school in North London, is too big for the surrounding roads to deal with, there are a whole number of other issues, regarding the lack of schools in the area etc that we will have to leave for the time being.

    As a regular bike commuter, I see first hand how bad, not only car drivers are, but, buses, lorries, other cyclists and pedestrians as well.

    We only live half a mile from the school, and my wife and daughter normally walk, I think I would like to keep it like that. Keep the cycling to the weekend and summer evenings.

  • I just had to respond to this post ... I wonder what MOMBEE means by saying there is no such thing as an accident? if there is a collision it is either accidental or deliberate - there really is no other option - so she obviously lives in a very paranoid world where every driver is intentionally targetting other road users.

    secondly there are a lot of people equating more traffic with more danger - I must disagree - it is on roads which are relatively quiet that I feel most at risk - this is where car drivers are going faster, paying less attention and have less awareness of cyclists.

    London's streets are in my opinion now much safer - the traffic moves relatively slowly and the growth of cycling means that the vast majority of drivers are aware of cyclists. Of course you will always get the road rage nutters - but I have seen a good number of incidents where the inconsiderate behaviour was coming from cyclists.

  • I have 3 boys aged 9, 11,12. The younger 2 have to be picked up from school by a parent unless we give permission for them to leave alone. As a child I made my way to/from school independantly from aged 8. . If the survey had asked what percentage of children walk alone to school it woud have shown similar figures to the % of children allowed to ride on the road. We wrap kids in cotton wool and wonder why they cannot cope with traffic etc on there own. All 3 of my children ride on the road when accompnied by an adult, the oldest 2 (who have done the cycling proficency test) are allowed to cycle on the road without an adult. To me traffic is not a major issue, it is educating the children to behave on the roads and understand why we have traffic rules.

  • Is there one, single cycling parent on this forum who would risk their (young) child's safety, by allowing them to ride unsupervised on modern urban roads? Its fine for the chairman of Cycling England to say "we need to remember that on-road accidents are in long term decline". However, my experience, and I expect that of many others, is that driving standards are going the same way.

    I'm not talking about being cut-up every day, or being deliberately assaulted by motorists (although both have happened to me recently). I'm talking about the general lack of foresight, consideration or understanding shown by a sizeable minority of drivers, even those on the so-called school run.

    My daughter is 2 now. When she is old enough to ride independently, I hope to take her to school on the bike, but if I feel it necessary we'll ride (slowly) on the pavement and be damned. Once she's experienced enough to ride on her own then that's fine, but I don't see it being before she is 10 or 12.

    Maybe I'm being overprotective, but I don't want to be the parent who has to deal with the consequences of a 'minor error of judgement' on the part of a driver who puts my child in hospital, or worse.

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