Get in the Road!

Recently there has been much in the letters page of the local press concerned with cyclists on pavements, and cyclists on the Leas. A keen cyclist myself, I agree with many of the points raised in the letters. I am surprised by how many cyclists I see on the pavement. I am surprised at how many cyclists I see bombing down a busy Leas on a nice afternoon. I am less surprised that many of them seem to be teenagers.

Rather than assume it is another example of ‘Broken Britain’ and our ASBO laden ‘yoof’, could it be a failure of education? Like most of my peers, I was given basic cycle safety instruction while at primary school, with someone extolling the virtues of luminous green polystyrene ‘Tuff Tops’ helmets. My secondary school had bike racks and a teacher was present to ensure we had the relevant safety gear before setting off.

It seems this is a thing of the past. Speaking to the Folkestone / Shepway Cycle Forum I was told that despite offers of Sustrans officers to visit schools and give basic cycling proficiency instruction, only 2 schools had expressed any interest and none had been visited.

It seems reasonable to assume that most children have bikes, but with no instruction it seems unlikely that children would want to venture out on the roads. I would not be surprised if many parents advised their children to stick to the pavements and do not encourage them to cycle to school. Only the Academy has suggested cycle routes for pupils to follow. Existing cylce lanes offer little in the way of a transport network. At a time where children are portrayed as piling on the pounds, surely schools would jump at the chance to do something healthy?

Without education of cyclists, it seems likely that cyclists will be sharing the pavement rather than the tarmac for some time to come. Popular opinion will continue to decry the ‘degenerate yoof’ of today rather than think of a solution.