Keeping kids active and safe on bikes

It shouldn’t matter now that we have laws against vehicles driving near bikes at all. 1.5 metres and you get to swerve into oncoming traffic across double unbroken lines.

Or you can be like the other smart drivers out there and wait till it’s safe before attempting to pass. the law has always been don’t pass unless safe to do so

but if you want to pass regardless, don’t blame the cyclist if you head on with a truck….

*mumbles off wondering about the depth of stupidity in some drivers..*

gooterz said :

If Mr Rattenbury had done his homework, he would fund Bike Ed instead.

The AFP stopped using the Belconnen learn to ride centre in 2007 because it didn’t offer practical on road training.

An ARRB evaluation report found that “the ACT Bike Ed program was found to be a worthwhile program that should continue. It will benefit from a number of improvements, the most important being the provision of on-road practical training. Unfortunately, research shows that traffic centres, such as that operated by the AFP, the Belconnen Traffic Centre, have little to offer children in the development of bicycle and related road safety skills. Such centres may inadvertently encourage students to become over-confident about their ability to cope safely in traffic.”

It shouldn’t matter now that we have laws against vehicles driving near bikes at all. 1.5 metres and you get to swerve into oncoming traffic across double unbroken lines.

It appears you don’t ride much, or you would be familiar with the family group cycling along, the children all over the place, with seemingly no concept of keep left. Imagine those children riding on the road. 1.5 metres would be nothing and they would soon be under the wheels of a car.

gooterz said :

If Mr Rattenbury had done his homework, he would fund Bike Ed instead.

The AFP stopped using the Belconnen learn to ride centre in 2007 because it didn’t offer practical on road training.

An ARRB evaluation report found that “the ACT Bike Ed program was found to be a worthwhile program that should continue. It will benefit from a number of improvements, the most important being the provision of on-road practical training. Unfortunately, research shows that traffic centres, such as that operated by the AFP, the Belconnen Traffic Centre, have little to offer children in the development of bicycle and related road safety skills. Such centres may inadvertently encourage students to become over-confident about their ability to cope safely in traffic.”

It shouldn’t matter now that we have laws against vehicles driving near bikes at all. 1.5 metres and you get to swerve into oncoming traffic across double unbroken lines.

If Mr Rattenbury had done his homework, he would fund Bike Ed instead.

The AFP stopped using the Belconnen learn to ride centre in 2007 because it didn’t offer practical on road training.

An ARRB evaluation report found that “the ACT Bike Ed program was found to be a worthwhile program that should continue. It will benefit from a number of improvements, the most important being the provision of on-road practical training. Unfortunately, research shows that traffic centres, such as that operated by the AFP, the Belconnen Traffic Centre, have little to offer children in the development of bicycle and related road safety skills. Such centres may inadvertently encourage students to become over-confident about their ability to cope safely in traffic.”

rommeldog56 said :

We used to have two in Canberra. The old Belconnen one is still there between Purdue and Walder streets. https://www.google.com/maps/@-35.2380542,149.0616501,20z/data=!3m1!1e3

I am most likely going to get howled down for saying this, but I am going to say it anyway. Canberra had two of these facilities and one which is still in existence and not used. At some point parents stopped putting their kids bike on the bike rack and driving to these facitiles (that is if they ever did in the first place). What makes people think the two new facilities are going to be used now and into the future? Will the government maintain them? Used for a photo opportunity with a politician prior to the election, but after that I do not think so.

This and the free city loop bus service. The current government has decided to run on nostalgia platform for the coming election. Cheap useless initiatives which waste our money.

It’s hard to “howl down” the truth and what you have posted seems factual to me.

rommeldog56 said :

rommeldog56 said :

Fantastic initiative. I went to one when I was a kid and living in Western Sydney (It was in St Marys from memory).

I think it’d be worth incorporating some traffic lights within the design to teach children the skills there as well

We used to have two in Canberra too. The old Belconnen one is still there between Purdue and Walder streets. Cannot recall where the 2nd one was, think it was Phillip but no idea where or if it can still be seen like the Belco one.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-35.2380542,149.0616501,20z/data=!3m1!1e3

It does seem odd that this one isn’t just maintained and then promoted.

Perhaps infrastructure alone isn’t enough. The one I grew up near in Adelaide had regular community classes, with bikes and trikes for use. It was also hired to school groups and staffed by Lions club volunteers.

Having the facility on its own assumes that parents have the skills and confidence to teach these skills to their kids.

rommeldog56 said :

We used to have two in Canberra. The old Belconnen one is still there between Purdue and Walder streets. https://www.google.com/maps/@-35.2380542,149.0616501,20z/data=!3m1!1e3

I am most likely going to get howled down for saying this, but I am going to say it anyway. Canberra had two of these facilities and one which is still in existence and not used. At some point parents stopped putting their kids bike on the bike rack and driving to these facitiles (that is if they ever did in the first place). What makes people think the two new facilities are going to be used now and into the future? Will the government maintain them? Used for a photo opportunity with a politician prior to the election, but after that I do not think so.

This and the free city loop bus service. The current government has decided to run on nostalgia platform for the coming election. Cheap useless initiatives which waste our money.

How about riding to these facilities with your kids? That’s how I used to go to the Deakin one.

rommeldog56 said :

Who’d want to teach kids how to use the road properly?! An education that could benefit them as pedestrians, cyclists and (later in life) as drivers. We must stop the waste!

STOP THE BIKES!!!

Thats it – well said ! “teach kids how to use the road properly” ? It be a better idea to keep them off the road by building, maintaining and utilising dedicated, safe bike paths instead.

rommeldog56 said :

We used to have two in Canberra. The old Belconnen one is still there between Purdue and Walder streets. https://www.google.com/maps/@-35.2380542,149.0616501,20z/data=!3m1!1e3

I am most likely going to get howled down for saying this, but I am going to say it anyway. Canberra had two of these facilities and one which is still in existence and not used. At some point parents stopped putting their kids bike on the bike rack and driving to these facitiles (that is if they ever did in the first place). What makes people think the two new facilities are going to be used now and into the future? Will the government maintain them? Used for a photo opportunity with a politician prior to the election, but after that I do not think so.

This and the free city loop bus service. The current government has decided to run on nostalgia platform for the coming election. Cheap useless initiatives which waste our money.

Will there be a “levy” or a charge put on cyclists to use these facilities ????

Yes, but only you will personally be responsible for paying it. So luckily for you your unspoken outrage can be justified.

Who’d want to teach kids how to use the road properly?! An education that could benefit them as pedestrians, cyclists and (later in life) as drivers. We must stop the waste!

STOP THE BIKES!!!