Riding bikes to school - too dangerous to allow?

The article discusses several diff schools and their approaches to biking to school. Was interested in your thoughts (and did you ride to school on a bike or walk?):

Some Southwest schools embrace bike riding; others ban it for ‘safety reasons'

No bikes, however, are allowed at Armatage Community School, 2501 W. 56th St. or Kenny Community School, 5720 Emerson Ave. S. because of “safety reasons.” Principal Joan Franks said that they don't want to risk anyone getting hurt. Plus, there's no place for kids to stow bikes.

“If damaged or stolen, there's no one to be responsible,” she said.

http://www.swjournal.com/articles/2005/12/29/news/news01.txt

bike riding to school?

I walked, back in grade school days. At way earlier ages than my sons ever walked to school by themselves!

...since those same schools presumably don't discourage kids from engaging in "unsafe" bike-riding behaviour outside of school hours.

While I wouldn't like the idea of kids riding through Manhattan to get to school, I can't think of many suburban areas in MA where the kids shouldn't be riding to school. I used to cross some pretty busy streets on my ride to my various schools.

Not locking your bike up and having it stolen was just a growing pain in the ass for anyone, why should the school be responsible if you don't lock it up?

It's got to be cheaper to set up a place to stow bikes than it is to pay for school buses, parking spaces, or keeping a kid after school until a parent can pick him up.
They talk about risks -- there are risks in riding a car to school. There are risks in letting kids getting inactive and obese.
This is just another example of the culture of fear. I'm sick of it.

elementary, middle and then even high school - sometimes I rollerbladed - then I got a car.

I always walked, and it was uphill both ways, fifty below wind chills and snow up to your waist.

;-)

I grew up in SD, and yes they were :scared:

As for me I grew up in Southern California so all my walks were in the sun with moderate temperatures and if it ever did snow - the world stood still for a while until it melted and then we went back to school.

When windchills get down to -80 and you get neck-deep snow, then we will talk. ;)

that you had no shoes. :P

but they were made out of cardboard, tree bark and bread wrappers. (Acutally I did have home-made mittens and my hands were so chapped you could almost see my knuckle-bones.) Also, I forgot about the wolves and wild dogs that hounded me every step of the way and the grumpy old people who would not let me cut through their yards.

Kids need exercise and they also need to start testing their independence.

Bikes are a great way to get to school. They don't pollute and kids can exercise a little. Why a school wouldn't have bike racks is beyond me.

My high school has had to expand its parking lot because so many kids drive to school. I lived a mile from school and rode the bus. On nice days, I often walked home. I think it's insane that people would drive ONE MILE to school. What a waste of space, gas, breathable air, and the opportunity to have a nice walk.

more biker and pedestrian friendly. A space for bikes and an extra security camera to watch them, do not seem like a terrible expense compared to parking lots that are done for cars as a matter of course. Lots of kids biked to JR High when I grew up. I never did because of fears of vandalism. Almost nobody biked to High School or grade school. For most of our school year, in Dakota, it was too cold and/or snowy to bike.

If your son rode up on one of these bad boys, there may be less trouble at school.

And I think that it's ridiculous for a school not to allow children to bring their bike. It is good exercise for the child, it eases congestion, traffic and pollution around the school.

If the school is like many in the DC area where many of the "streets" a kid would need to take to school are actually four- or six-lane highways where traffic is travelling at 50 mph, I could understand the concern. And if students are going to have to contend with street traffic because there are no sidewalks (as most subdivisions are designed), likewise.

As for me, I walked from K-7, when we moved across town. Part of that trip involved crossing a state highway where coal trucks barrelled along at 55 mph. My grandmother walked my brother and I all the way to the school until I was about 9, then she'd walk us to the highway and watch as we crossed. After that, I'd walk partway with her and my brother and then split off toward the middle school. After we moved, I rode the bus most days. I had to ride the bus for high school, because the school was 10 miles away and you weren't allowed to drive (not enough parking, too great a chance of people skipping).

here in chicago, one of the reasons i love and stick up for my dem mayor, is that he has a guy whose job it is to promote biking in chicago. bike lanes have been painted on just about any street that is wide enough, especially those leading to transprotation hubs. bike racks have been installed on buses, and space made on trains. cool bike racks are just about everywhere. daley himself is an avid biker.
but-the schools and the parks are left out of the equation. at my kids school, there is a rack by the main door, where a security guard sits all day ANYWAY, but kids are still discouraged from riding. they don't want the hassle of stolen bikes.
my kids have not been in any park district programs for a few years, but biking to the park used to be all but forbidden. no good place to park the bikes, and again, fear of headaches. even though we are talking about kids who all came and went at pretty much the same time.
:wtf: it is just plain ridiculous if you ask me.

And roads in neighborhoods should be organized to make biking by children a safe experience.

When I was a kid, back when dinosaurs ruled the earth, the elementary school held a "bicycle rodeo" near the beginning of the school year. Kids were encouraged to bring their bikes and practice biking around obstacles and improving skills, and taught basic maintenance, road rules, and other safety matters. We'd have so much fun that we'd have our own unofficial bicycle rodeos on weekends.

One thing that I think would help safety nowadays would be to encourage people who are at home to come outside in their yards or sit in their front rooms with windows open during school zone times. If schools would simply mail out a request, I think a lot of people would be reminded that such a simple thing could be of enormous help.

I've been on duty after school. Put a kid on a bike in a hurry to get home and have him leave at the same time as dozens of parents in SUV's picking up their children after school. It's a nightmare. All you can do is cross your fingers and hope the kid makes it. However, if I were principal, I would ban the cars; not the bikes.

Add bicycles to the mix of cars, buses and people - that's a pretty big "con" to me.

Too many close calls between the kids and the soccer moms. The parents FREAKED OUT because the school sits on two busy streets without parking areas anywhere else around. The principals response? Drop them off a few blocks away and let them walk. Better yet, let them walk all the way...our school boundaries are drawn so that no child is beyond one mile from their school.

I thought it was hilarious because my wifes cousin has kids that go to that school, and she moaned for months about how "unfair" it was and how they lived too far to walk. The funny part of it was that she lives one block from the house I grew up in, and I walked to that school every single flipping day of my childhood. Rain, shine, fog, it didn't matter...Mom worked nights, so I was walking. Very, very few of my friends got rides to school, and we usually teased them about it :)

700 bicyclists are killed on the roads every year. 300,000 people die annually from inactivity-related illnesses.

I'll vote for riding the bike.

Some areas are truly unsafe for people to bike, especially children who may be less experienced and not be aware of all the traffic rules.
I had no idea that few people die from bike accidents. I guess it is because of antedotal evidence. I have known a few people who have died that way so I thought that it was higher.

In the past year or so there have been at least two kids killed in the Tampa Bay area after they were dropped of by a school bus. They walked across major highways (contrary to school policy) and were struck and killed.

??

If kids aren't allowed to ride their bikes because it is deemed unsafe they might be required to ride buses out of necessity. I'm pointing out that they might not be so well off.

Buses are statistically far safer than any other vehicle on the road.

:eyes:

parents didn't come bitching at us every time something happened to a kid's bike while it was at school. "Johnny parked his bike at school and now the tires are flat - someone stole the tires - someone slashed the tires - someone stole the handlebars - someone ripped the seat - someone broke the lock - he forgot to lock it up and someone stole the bike - he locked it up, but the bike rack was faulty and it got stolen" etc. etc. What a crazy waste of time this is.

Then, there's the time wasted monitoring the bike rack to make sure the kids don't ride through the crowd at recess.

Then there's the time wasted to make sure no one uses the bike rack as a monkey bars. We would be liable for that, without question.

It's not as easy as people think.

Our mother usually dropped us off in the morning even though it was only a short distance, probably to make sure we actually went and it was on her way to work. In the afternoon, we walked home because our mother did not get home until after 5 p.m. It would have been safe to bike in that neighborhood but walking was just as easy. There were bike racks out front though, near the front doors of the school.
When we moved to a rural area, we lived around 5 miles from the school. Our mother thought that was too far for us to bike, especially in the morning, on some of those roads. We took the bus.
I think that it is great when kids bike or walk. There are some roads though where it might be dangerous for children to bike. Unless the school itself is in a dangerous biking area, though, the school should provide some bike racks as close to the school building as possible, as thieves are less likely to steal when they might be seen.

It's awful. There are two little boys who have to walk to school on a road with no sidewalks, and practically in a ditch. And this is in the city limits of Seattle! North of 80th, where the city limit used to be, the sidewalk situation is really patchy, and long time residents always excuse it by saying that that area didn't used to be in the city limits (whihc, by now, was about 70 years ago.)

until sidewalks are built.

to school when I was in elementary, there wasn't any sidewalks. It wasn't too far, but since there was a huge chunk without sidewalks I went to day-care through 6th grade.

Junior high was different because our house was across the street from it.

As soon as I turned 16 (during Sept) I got a car and could drive. It wasn't far, I walked home from high school quite a few times, but I played the cello and it was too heavy for me to carry home while walking. That's why they didn't mind letting me drive, so I'd be able to port the cello around.

That is a pretty good reason to drive!

My son would like to ride his bike to school but I will not let him. He would have to travel along a heavily travelled 6 lane road with patches where there is no sidewalk and there is no other route that will get him there easily - there is a creek to cross and few through streets all with heavy traffic... plus I don't recall ever seeing bike racks at his school. We live in the city, where it is actually ok in a lot of places to ride a bike because schools are small and tucked into neighborhoods, but out in suburbia many schools seem all seem to be on major roads - 8 lanes 40/50 mph limit(school zones help very little) with few lights or crossing places.

yeah, it might be too dangerous. But kids really ought to be encouraged to exercise more.

I walked, until we moved, and then I rode a bus. The bus was hell, though. Girls were molested; nerds were beaten up.

In retrospect, i don't know why I didn't ride my bike. I guess it just "wasn't done."

My dad rides his bike to work everyday and has never had any problems. My town isn't too bad. I think it all depends on each area and if it encourages exercise and fresh air than why not? There should be a special place outside of the school for bikes.

My son will be riding his bike to school this spring and summer. HOWEVER, it can be dangerous to ride your bike. If you have a really nice bike, gangs attack you and steal it. That happens around here all the time. You NEVER, ever, ever leave your bike unchained/locked up....it'll be gone in a heartbeat.

They would have to cross an eight lane intersection where there are often accidents. It is not pedestrian friendly.

Cribs etc. as children.

And sitting in the back seat of the car, buckled into a contoured seat facing backward for the first year, can't see mom or dad, after that, still not allowed in the front until they are what, 12?
(YES, of course I do this too with my own child, and I know it is safer, and better than having a child die from an accident, but psychologically it's still a little weird. In comparison to the many happy hours with him on my chest or my back in a baby carrier-- there's no comparison.)

But -- God Forbid that they should get on their bikes and travel a few blocks unsupervised between home and school. The 11th commandment: Thou Shalt Ride in a Petroleum-Powered Vehicle Every Day.

However I nearly broke my neck every other weekend trying to be a daredevil.

What next? Prohibit walking to school because someone tripped?

We've become a pathetic excuse for a society if bikes aren't allowed to be ridden to school.

Mind you we should also pay a hell of a lot more attention to bike-paths and 6-ft sidewalks, as well as public transportation, but we're mostly too stupid and cheap for that too...