No Lights !!

[Baggy]

That's a good idea. The problem for me is that without any kind of regulation there is little incentive for people to take cycle training.

I regularly see people riding horses where I live, passed two this morning, and I get the impression that people receive good training on how to handle their animals on the road. Even teenagers on horses seem to be able to control them very well.

Cycling is different as I think most people just learn what to do as they go along. Bicycles are so commonplace that few parents seem to see the need to train their kids. After all they probably didn't get any training and they're still alive. With such a haphazard approach to cycling instruction it's little wonder that there are so many rubbish cyclists on the roads.

Cyclingis indeed different - it will have probably taken years of lessons for a horse rider to reach a level of skill where they can control a horse full stop, and riders usually have some experience of riding out on the road as part of "hacking" lessons. There are obviously exceptions!

However, with a bike you can just get on it. Is there a role here for bike retailers to hand out a leaflet saying why lights are essential, and recommending people read the highway code?

It's amazing how many people seem to be able to afford a helmet but not lights - I know which I'd buy first...

There does seem to be a real push and investment towards cycle training in schools though, so it's not all bad news.

 

[tdr1nka]

The old cycling proficiency test is currently being replaced by the Govt. backed 'Bikeability'. It is down to either local boroughs or individual schools to provide the training.
With the best intentions you could make training compulsory for every 11 year old to be able to ride safely on the roads, Cyclecraft actually recommends training kids on the road as soon as they are confident enough in controlling a bike, but that would have as much a guarantee that they will continue to cycle safely into adulthood as believing that every motorist does the same after passing their test.

 

[Mr Pig]

There does seem to be a real push towards cycle training in schools though, so it's not all bad news.

I'm sure there will be lots of people who really care about cycling who are working hard to promote cycle safety. Good on them I say. They can only do so much though.

There is a compulsory test that you need to pass to drive a car on the road. Everybody driver sits this test. I don't think this test is enough though so I sat the IAM driving test about ten years ago. The IAM test is a great thing to do but being voluntary hardly anybody does it.

And such is the way of things. Only so many people are conscientious enough to do more than the bare minimum without being made to.

 

[4F]

As far as cyclists are concerned, I'd make it legal for children up to the age of sixteen to cycle on the pavement, which seems to be accepted as common sense by everyone already.

Sorry I don't agree with that as common sense. How are children supposed to gain any road sense if they ride on a pavement ?

My kids have always been taught to ride on the road and have been from the age of 6. I have never ridden with them on the pavement as I think it just sets bad practices from the start.

 

[CopperBrompton]

The IAM test is a great thing to do but being voluntary hardly anybody does it.

And such is the way of things. Only so many people are conscientious enough to do more than the bare minimum without being made to.

Ironically, the people who profess the most concern about road safety on cycling forums very rarely turn out to have taken this simple and inexpensive step to improve their own standard of driving ...

Ben

 

[tdr1nka]

I'd go as far as to say that if the majority of Motorists were interested enough in their driving to be trained to IAM standard in the first place, then there might be call for cyclists to take a compulsory test.