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22 comments
I love the kids proficiency training, a local school use the end of my road for it.
As I was riding past last week in full lycra one of the kids shouted, 'look, a professional!'
My children have passed through primary school over the last 5 years and have all done 'bikeability' courses which is probably beyond the cycling proficiency test as they actually have 2 or 3 levels i think.
However, riding with my son following this worried me a little as they were massively prescriptive and seemed based on some kind of cycling utopia whereby if you signalled then the cars would definitely take notice and allow you to move into the middle of the road etc.
We have banged the drum many times on here but on the whole it is not cyclists that need training. 2 tonnes of metal, excessive speed, impatience, distraction, entitlement et al means you cannot ride 5 miles without someone being a dick - I can't train for that!
I found most of the article satirical, except this bit:
"'The road would be a much safer place if all parties adhere to road rules, all of the time.'
According to official figures for 2014, 113 cyclists were killed and 3,401 were seriously injured on roads."
seems to me that cyclists are not riding properly according them stats.(sarcasm) How many were injured in vehicles when they collided with these unqualified cyclists?
seems to me that cyclists are not riding properly according them stats.(sarcasm) How many were injured in vehicles when they collided with these unqualified cyclists?
Completely missing the fact that the vast majority of cyclists will also be car drivers and have, therefore, already taken a proficiency test to use the road that is much more comprehensive than that which would be required in order to ride a bike on the road.
The Daily Mail is the world's most elaborately decorated bog roll. Best ignored.
Don't ignore it; it's important to keep your bum clean!
@ Jimmy
Aye mandatory cycle training. Just what cycling needs, nore barriers.
Very clever.
/golfclap
I'm actually in favour of everyone getting mandatory cycle training... maybe as part of the school curriculum... as part of that, everyone can be taught what cyclists can and cannot legally do. How to use the roads, the key dangers / vulnerabilities of sharing the road, etc. Etc.
For drivers, you get more competent cyclists, for cyclists you get a wider understanding of the needs and legal rights of cyclists... win win.
I'm in favour of it, but only for drivers. It's not necessary for riding a bike, obviously, but possibly it should be if you are going to drive a car in the vicinity of cyclists.
(that was mostly-joking, btw, but I was provoked into it!)
Do they still have the 'Cycling Proficiency Test' at schools these days? I remember, back in the dim and distant past (we're talking over 30 years now...Jeez), doing mine in the junior school playground. Then again, every kid had a bike back then, but it wasn't compulsary by any means. It would be good to get something like this up and running again - even if the kid in question doesn't have a bike, it will give them the confidence to ride, and show them it's not that scarey or difficult.
I never did Cycling Proficiency at school: I only owned one bike for a very brief period when I was a kid, so wasn't able to take the course even though it was offered.
My son did Bikeability in primary school last year (end of year 5).
He failed at the first hurdle (not literally: they don't have hurdles!), because he doesn't enjoy it and is physically a bit backward. We had originally been told they'd be doing it in year 6, so we thought we'd have time to get him a bit more up to speed but they just decided to move it forward - by a year! - and gave us a fortnight's notice that they were doing Bikeability on such-and-such a date so please bring in a working bike, helmet, etc.
The children who were deemed to have passed got to ride to a cafe along the riverside cycle path.
The kids who failed were bundled into a minibus and met the others there.
I think that's the method they are using to select the teams for the Olympics in Rio.
You made me click, uurg.
This one's a beaut:
"Cycle paths are often ignored by the lycra types. Cyclists should be fined if they do not use them. Also many ride two or more abreast. I thought the highway code recommended single file"
Is this a piss take?
I wonder if all 2321 respondents were Daily Mail readers? I sincerely hope so, otherwise I've lost all faith in society.
Words fail me. "14% of motorists involved in an ACTUAL accident with a cyclist" - stop bloody driving into us then!!!!
I haven't even got time to pull the rest of the article to bits. Unbelievable.
Wanna see fear in a driver's eyes? Just mention that you are a strong supporter of compulsory re-tests for drivers and you've heard the government are definitely thinking about it.
You can only use this about once every couple of years but it works every time.
Bloody shame they aren't!
Cretins writing like cretins being read by cretins.
Plus ça change.
Don't worry it'll never happen. The Daily Mail (Hate) it's just sensationalist journalism. Wankers