The details from the News-Leader are sketchy: A 7-year-old boy on a bicycle collided with a van at the intersection of Kansas Expressway and Hovey St. The child suffered a broken leg. I found this interesting:
Phillips said the boy, who was riding a bike, and the van met at the corner of Hovey Street and Kansas Expressway. Phillips said a witness said both the boy and the van stop, then both went at the same time.
Phillips called the accident “really just bad timing.” The police department had not yet decided who was at fault for the accident.
This photo, taken by News-Leader staff photographer Nathan Papes (a former student of mine), was published online but not in the print edition.
And right there we can see the need for bicycle education for children in the United States. I’m talking about something formalized — perhaps through the schools using local volunteers (to keep costs down because, geez, we certainly wouldn’t want to spend too many tax dollars on the safety of our children).
The photo seems to indicate that the child was riding the wrong way down a major 4-lane artery. The speed limit here is 45 mph. It is not clear from the photo if the boy was on a sidewalk or not. I am not sure if there is a sidewalk at that intersection. From the angle of the van’s front tire I’d say the driver was turning right. In any case he would have been looking left for on-coming traffic.
I am not trying to make an argument that the child is at fault.
(Many commenters on the News-Leader site want to blame the parents for “allowing” a 7-year-old near such a busy street.)
I am beginning an argument that WE are at fault for not doing a better job of teaching children in this community how to ride safely.
Bicycle education and a Safe Routes to School program are even more important now that school bus service will be trimmed because of a cut in state funding.
Comments 9
That’s just a few blocks from me, and I see a lot of bad habits in the kids around here. Whether they are biking, walking, or skateboarding, there seems to be a mentality that they can do what they want and vehicles/drivers should always yield.
Being seven years old, this probably hadn’t become a conscious thought, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he had no education in bike safety. What bothers me even more is that a seven year old was out alone on his bike next to Kansas-freaking-Expressway to begin with. That intersection’s fine when I go out at 6 in the morning, but crossing Kansas in that area is pretty dangerous later in the day.
Posted 21 Jul 2010 at 8:12 am ¶Matthew… I’m a little surprised that he was out there at such a young age. But then I remember going all kinds of places on my bicycle and my parents having not a clue. Bicycle education would have been good for me as a kid, but I probably would have used the knowledge to travel even farther. Hmmmmmm…
Posted 21 Jul 2010 at 8:21 am ¶You make a good point about education, but I feel there are a LOT of adults who could use a bit of education themselves. Given the way some of us ride, it is a small wonder that there aren’t more of these types of accidents! When will we actually do something about it? I am open and willing to help in whatever way I can. Let’s make a PSA together!!
Posted 21 Jul 2010 at 8:23 am ¶Keith… Sounds good!
Posted 21 Jul 2010 at 8:24 am ¶Left side of the road is BAD BAD BAD. All bikes, cars, mopeds, horsedrawn wagons etc should ALL be on the right side of the street. Simple. All 7 year olds should know that. (or be told)
Posted 21 Jul 2010 at 8:31 am ¶From someone who has taught a couple of hundred 9-14 year olds an 8-hour traffic course a 7 year old lacks the mental capacity to ride in traffic in any situation by themselves.
It’s not going to matter how much training you do for a 7 year old. Kids do not mentally develop enough until they are about 10 years old to consistently do things like signal, scan and obey traffic control devices. Its not that they do not want to always scan, for example, its just that they cannot always do it for some reason.
Unfortunately its hard to explain but I’ve noticed even a huge difference between the 9 year olds and the 10 year olds in our course. It does not seem to make any difference how much riding the children have done. I had a 9-year old in my course whose parents do not own an automobile and she was the same way.
If anyone ever tells you that when they were 7 they were a good rider whose parents let them ride anywhere they wanted you can tell them that their memory is bad and they were lucky. LOL
Posted 21 Jul 2010 at 10:40 am ¶Robert… That’s good information. Thanks!
Posted 21 Jul 2010 at 1:56 pm ¶When I was a kid, I rode back and forth to school beginning at age 5. The distance was almost exactly a mile. About a quarter mile was busy 2 lane and no sidewalks. Sometimes I’d bull up and ride in the street … riding in the grass wasn’t much fun. Eventually, I figured out how to get there by cutting through a military post (O’Reilly Hospital) which was really low and slow traffic.
More recently, I have been working with my “surrogate step grandchildren,” ages 3 through 9 (trike, training wheels, no training wheels). It has really driven home to me the difference in what they comprehend, how well they will obey, etc. I have all of them at least pretty well trained (even the 3 year old) that when we come to the edge (curb, street, sidewalk, etc.) we stop, look left, look right, and look left again to determine if it’s safe to cross.
I’m pretty sure I can find stats that say riding against traffic flow on the sidewalks puts you at 4 to 5 times greater risk of being struck by a motor vehicle than riding in the street with traffic.
Posted 21 Jul 2010 at 7:01 pm ¶Robert’s comment is important. Children develop cognitive abilities at different rates, but there are definite age-markers for when their brains can process the information to interact with a fast-moving environment.
Although CyclingSavvy is an adult-oriented course, we had 2 parents bring their children (ages 11 & 12) to the last two sessions (bike handling and classroom). They actually did quite well (the 11 year old especially) and even participated in discussion. But in the discussion of cycling on arterial roads, the parents were properly concerned about their children. I said, “when they are 17 and get a driver license, you won’t probably be sending them out on I-4 until they have matured and demonstrated the ability to handle such an environment.” They agreed.
Keith noted that adults need education, too. And that’s even more critical when educating children. We have to reach their parents at the same time. The school-based education programs are doomed because you can’t teach a child safe cycling skills if they go home and their parents contradict it with bad beliefs… like that they should ride against traffic.
I wish I could afford to go to London, because it looks like the borough of Hackney has a world-class education program there for moms and kids. Which, btw, has managed to produce double-digit mode share with no bike lanes.
Imagine how our traffic culture would change if we brought up the next generation with the Truth about safe cycling.
Posted 22 Jul 2010 at 6:29 am ¶Trackbacks & Pingbacks 1
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