Guest blog post by Derek Eastwood, Business Development Manager at Hussey Fraser, Solicitors, Dublin.
Cycling is a true life skill — for work, transport, exercise and play – with many countries now investing in making civic spaces more bike friendly. Whether you’re a bike owner or making use of bike hiring schemes, cycling is only growing in popularity for its holistic benefits as well as its low cost and environmental impact. Moreover, one little known fact is that buying
and maintaining a bike is around 1% of the annual cost of that of a car! There are so many benefits for you with cycling and even more so if you’re a parent looking to enrich your child’s life.
Most people learn to ride a bike in childhood before going on to spend time out riding around neighborhoods, with friends, and on holidays. Not only does bike riding nurture independence, it’s also a great way to cultivate coordination while encouraging easy physical activity. Despite this, cycling safety urgently needs to go hand in hand with the joy of riding a bike and experts say that this should start from the moment your child begins their biking journey.
A Cycling Safety Guide to Help You
No matter what, make sure to emphasize the importance of safe pedaling for your child as they get ready to take on roads, other cyclists and general hazards. From helmets to road signals, Hussey Fraser Solicitors developed this comprehensive guide to help you get started with ‘Teaching Cycling Safety to Children’.
Read on for key points, safety recommendations, and where to begin with responsible bike riding to make the most of cycling. And, remember, there’s no time like the present to start cycling with The New York Times reporting that in 2020, “With youth sports on hold, car traffic down 75 percent or more throughout the country (according to the research firm StreetLightData), and cooped up kids doing parkour on living room furniture, family bike rides have never sounded better.”
Stay safe and enjoy your time out on two wheels!
Comments
Yes so so important! The infographics make it so easy too, thank you.
Ace post, we had terrible trouble getting large boy off his stabilisers and eventually he did it on holiday at a cycle club on a campsite. He’s done some cycling proficiency at Beavers over a year ago too. Small boy just got on a bike and rode off age 3 1/2 but needs lot of advice on rides out about not steering into people.
We have just started to teach our daughter how to ride a tricycle, so this is great timing for this post. It’s important to teach safe riding from the beginning!
This guide is so thorough. I need this for my daughter, who really wants to learn to cycle. Thanks for sharing.
I’m looking forward to teaching my daughter to ride a bike! I’ll have to come back to this in the future!