Compulsory Cycling Proficiency Test?

hm. thorny one, that. my main objection would be that:

1) the one thing that's proven, time and time again, to make cycling safer is simple: more cyclists.

2) any kind of compulsion (tests, helmets, registration) cuts the uptake of cycling.

It's sort of happening now, but in the usual piecemeal British fashion, aren't Cycling England, CTC, Sustrans involved in bringing new cycling proficience training in to schools - one of my kids did the new one and it was very thorough. Sadly though, uptake amongst schools is not uniform and it is voluntary. The ideal would be Dave Brailsford's idea of making cycling part of the national curriculum

Part of the school curriculum has to be the answer, makes more sense than Home Economics that I had to learn at school, I have never made peppermint ice since then, how did that ever help me?

aside from anything else, even if the kids didn't go on to be cyclists they'd at least have an inkling of the dangers involved in riding on the road… mind you, Victoria Pendleton's suggestion that sitting on a bike and having someone drive past at 50mph should be a mandatory part of the driving test would give drivers even more of an inkling

Vicky P has got it right, ALL drivers should be forced to have a car pass them with 1foot clearance at 50mph+. Would scare 99% of them whitless.

Why didnt anyone see the frankly superb section in the first cycle commuter magazine on safe cycling in cities? In fairness though a cycling proficiency test is a good idea but can only go so far. I mean I like to think I am a strong, considerate and aware cyclist but I still get into sticky situations thanks to pedestrians (crossing roads without looking) and drivers (not thinking) so it has to be education accross the board or unfortunately more terrible accidents like this will occur.

I think a good idea would be giving instruction at the time of purchase, a bit like the safety notice before flying, and an instruction guide to take home.

I see a lot of bad riding. Increasingly, it's hoodies and similar know-it-all youths involved in wrong-way riding and they're probably riding stolen bikes anyway. As for lights and the rest of the Highway Code? Forget it.

I suspect it isn't training that's required, but a good repeated Tazering in the bollocks might.

Compulsory training for all road users isn't going to solve this problem, but combined with zero tolerance it might go some way to improving the situation.

Bikeability is the new Cycling Proficiency. It has a good reputation. The wider and more easily accessible it is, the better. Let's hope the government doesn't axe Cycling England.

I did Bikeability level 3 and can throughly recommend it.

Overall, though, I'm concerned at the general direction this seems to be heading: that everyone needs to be in a ridiculously heightened state of awareness and training just to go out on their bike. Yes, there should be bike training in primary school, but it shouldn't be such a high-concern thing - what happened to just pootling around on a bike?? At least the idiots going the wrong way on a bike, using their phone, etc., are only endangering themselves - it's not like being George Michael after a spliff, for heaven's sake!

I'm a Bikeability instructor, and I think the main intention is to give parents the confidence in their child's ability, in order to actually let them cycle to school etc.

I think that the sheer volume and speed of traffic nowadays does require a heightened state of awareness, but only to the same extent that drivers also need to have heightened awareness nowadays compared to even just 10 or 15 years ago.