Cycling perspectives (3 of 9) A parent

Kaya Burgess of the Times wrote in May 2013

"If you are not a regular cyclist, you may ask why you should support
proposals to boost investment in safe cycle routes.
More than three quarters of a million people commute to work by bicycle
in Britain every day, but you may not be one of them. So why should you
care?
Building safer cycle routes would not only benefit those who cycle. It
would also encourage hundreds of thousands more people to use their
bikes to make short journeys instead of going by car or by train or bus.
This would have benefits for motorists, pedestrians, parents, businesses
and taxpayers.
It would lead to less congested streets, less overcrowding on public
transport, fewer deaths on the road, less NHS money wasted on obesity, a
boost for the high street, less pollution, and a more affordable form of
transport for those priced out by rising petrol prices and rail fares.
This will only happen if a greater proportion of the existing transport
budget is spent on cycling, however.
Around 2 per cent of journeys in Britain are currently made by bike,
leaping to more than 50 per cent in parts of Central London at rush hour
and more than 10 per cent in towns like Bristol, York, Oxford and
Cambridge. Yet less than 1 per cent of the transport budget is spent on
cycle provision. A recent pledge from David Cameron to spend £94 million
on cycling over the next three years amounts to just 0.2 per cent of the
Department for Transport’s budget over the same period.
The 18 recommendations made in the Get Britain Cycling report - outlined
here - can transform Britain’s streets and towns for everyone,
regardless of whether or not they ride a bike.
Here are some arguments for why non-cyclists would benefit from these
recommendations:

3 of 9

A parent

Britain languishes near the bottom of the child obesity league tables in
Europe. The Government’s own Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davies,
said: “Where it is safe and appropriate to do so, cycling to school can
bring important health benefits to children. What’s more, fitter
children concentrate better in school. However, we have to make sure
that cycling is safe and is seen to be safe.
“Bikeability [training] is a great way of equipping youngsters with the
skills and awareness to cycle safely, but we need to educate other road
users and create an environment in which children and their parents can
cycle with confidence.”
Every parent should encourage their child to be active and take
exercise, and cycling to school is a healthy, cheap and efficient way of
doing this. But the roads have to be safe and inviting enough for a
parent to feel comfortable about cycling to school with their children
or letting their kids cycle alone.
Your child’s school should also offer comprehensive cycle training as
part of the national curriculum, setting them up for a lifetime of being
able to travel in this healthy and affordable way. There should also be
safe routes to local schools to keep children safe on their bikes.
The Get Britain Cycling report, backed by The Times’s petition, calls
for all these things.

Tomorrow:

Trying to get fit and healthy.