Industry News
'Four out of five children banned from cycling'
Posted on 6th May 2008
Four out of five children are banned from cycling to school, research has found.
Cycling England, a government backed initiative, polled 1,079 parents about whether they let their children cycle, but found that safety fears got in the way, the BBC reports.
However, 35 per cent of the parents cycled to school when they themselves were children.
Although most parents said that fears for safety meant they would not let their children cycle independently, only three per cent knew someone who had been in an accident.
The findings were released as Cycling England launches Bike to School Week.
Cycling England's chairman Phillip Darnton told the BBC: "Concern about safety is understandable, but we need to remember that on-road accidents are in long-term decline."
In related news, the local authority in Richmond, Surrey, has launched a scheme that will see parents having to pay for a special parking permit if they want to drop off their children at school in the car. The plan is hoped to reduce traffic and encourage more parents to walk their children to school.