Recreational & Family - At what age do you put your kid on the road?

My boys are now 4-1/2 and 2-1/2.

We put the eldest on a LikeABike at age 3 and it worked so well that we put him on a regular pedal bike on his fourth birthday.

The youngest inherited the LikeABike at 2 and he's better on it now than the eldest was at 3-1/2.

So, the LikeABike method clearly teaches them the physical skills to pilot a bike, but how long should you wait until they go out on roads with traffic (under parental supervision of course)?

They've done most of their riding on deserted dead-end streets and/or parks. This past weekend, though, I took the number-one kid to a local road that is closed to vehicular traffic on Sundays. I wanted to see whether he would ride in the bike lane and how he would deal with the fairly heavy bike traffic.

He did pretty well. Aside from being startled by the first bikers who passed on "ON YOUR LEFT," the kid stuck pretty well to the bike lane. But he clearly had no concept of needing to check his six, nor did he seem to have any concept of what to do at intersections. I covered him from behind, so he wouldn't get run down by any passing riders.

I'm not sure how to teach kids traffic awareness or tell when they've actually got that figured out to ride safely.

The one thing the kid definitely learned, though, is that if you coast down a longish hill, then you have to pedal UP the hill on the way back. He was a bit peeved about that...

You may want to check with your local Law Enforcement. Your state may have age limitations on when children can ride in the street.

In the UK we don't teach the new national Bikeability course to primary schoolchildren, until Year 5 (10 - 11 yrs old). Even then, the course, which is done on-road after exercises to test their bike handling skill, is not designed to equip them to ride on their own in normal traffic.

We have done family rides on quiet roads with parents and kids (7 miles each way with break for refreshments and fun), but we find that, under 8, even with close supervision, they generally lack the conceptual ability to ride safely and consistently. There are exceptions, of course, including 2 8-year olds who did the 70 mile Wetherby_Filey Great Yorkshire Charity Bike Ride with their fathers, but you would need to work very hard to get them to ride safely, even with you, before 8 years.

Obviously, much depends on the type of road/traffic you would be encountering.

Until then, off-road MUPs and trails would be your best and safest bet.

If you move to France, of course, your kids could do Alpe d'Huez at the ages of 8 and 10 respectively as two of ours did this summer ;o).

When you do think they're safe to start riding with you, should I tell granny to suck eggs by saying you'll have to be absolutely consistent in obeying the traffic regulations for your state in order to inculcate lifelong good riding habits? I thought not.

In the meantime, have some fun and games with them, challenging them to improve their bike handling skills, little quizzes on your equivalent of our Highway Code and so on. If you want to get some idea of the skills we do, log on to www.bsca.org.uk and look at the Trix Awards. If they do the Bronze and Silver skills, they'll be good enough to handle anything that normal roads can challenge them with.

If you want to use the private email facility to ask me any detailed questions, feel free. We had 54 of the little blighters at our club last Saturday - a bit of a nightmare, but a good nightmare. All I need is another 4/5 qualified parent coaches and I'll keep what's left of my hair for a bit longer.

...but we find that, under 8, even with close supervision, they generally lack the conceptual ability to ride safely and consistently.... .

...Until then, off-road MUPs and trails would be your best and safest bet...


...When you do think they're safe to start riding with you, should I tell granny to suck eggs by saying you'll have to be absolutely consistent in obeying the traffic regulations for your state in order to inculcate lifelong good riding habits? I thought not....


Thanks for the thoughtful reply and link. Fortunately (?), we live near some deserted portions of the local MUP, since the govt has yet to complete the build and link them to anywhere. Plus, the Sunday Road Closure creates a giant MUP, which only had a fair number of users this past weekend due to a charity ride. So I think we'll be sticking to that for now.

And my wife has already got on my case about setting good examples for the kids. The youngest attempts to do "wheelies" on the LikeABike, an improbable feat given the lack of pedals and engine. My wife blames me for this, although I'm pretty sure the real culprit is Curious George in "Curious George Rides a Bike..."

I would say around seven or eight, Kids are still ridiculously clumsy at that age, and their minds dont think fast enough to react to many situations, if its not convenient to ride on paths, or closed rodes, then I would take him out to the closed rode every Sunday until I felt comfortable with his ability, but I'm overprotective of those around me.

I wouldn't expect them to be ready to ride on their own and without supervision until they're 10 or 12 (for most kids I'd lean toward older rather than younger, but it depends on your area). Somewhere in the 6-8 range, they'll start to understand the rules of the road... and if you work on teaching the rules, they'll pick them up faster. They will take time to get reliable about things like signaling, signs, and understanding passing rules. Once they *are* reliable tho, they'll stay that way with much less effort on your part.

Keep in mind little kids are *small*. It might be a good idea to work with them on where adults can and can't see when they're in a car. Try different things out so they get used to looking for whether the other person can see them. They can't see very well in a car without a car seat, so it should be easy for them to understand that a grownup might not see well either.

And get them bike bells. They're fun, but they're also a useful tool. And I'm betting they'll do a lot of fooling around with them together... and they'll learn to look if they hear a bell. Should help for teaching them to check behind them as well as in front.

A lot of little kid learning looks like they're just playing. Keep things short, and watch to see if they're integrating the new ideas into how they play together.

When is a kid old enough to do things like crossing the street by himself without a grownup? That's probably the first experience with judging traffic and obeying signals.

I'm trying to talk my 7 yr old into taking (neighborhood) roads rather than sidewalks to school but he still doesn't want to, unless he has to avoid a sidewalk obstacle.

Yikes. I hope you won't call CPS on me, but my son is 4 and a half. We've been riding on the streets near our house since he could ride without training wheels. These are very quiet neighborhood streets not arterials, but still it requires constant observation and communication by both parent and child.

He has to ride right on my inside hip and I point out potential issues as far up the road as possible. I tell him that he's in charge of looking both ways at intersections and he tells me when I can go. That gives him a sense of responsibility.

It will be quite a while before I feel comfortable letting him ride unsupervised, even in the neighborhood, but he's really good about riding along with me.

Yikes. I hope you won't call CPS on me, but my son is 4 and a half. We've been riding on the streets near our house since he could ride without training wheels. These are very quiet neighborhood streets not arterials, but still it requires constant observation and communication by both parent and child.

He has to ride right on my inside hip and I point out potential issues as far up the road as possible. I tell him that he's in charge of looking both ways at intersections and he tells me when I can go. That gives him a sense of responsibility.

It will be quite a while before I feel comfortable letting him ride unsupervised, even in the neighborhood, but he's really good about riding along with me.

+1.

It occurs to me that you might make another game with him of getting him to point out what might happen at intersections or what a driver might do at a driveway. If they get into the habit of looking out for possible right and left hooks, for example, or looking for clues that might indicate that a driver is about to pull out (front wheels slightly turned, driver has just put on a seatbelt), or someone is about to get out of the car, etc.

I've only worked with older kids and adults on road safety training, as opposed to skills and racing, where the ages range from 5 upwards, so it might be difficult to work out how much information to give them or how sophisticated you expect, or know, that their awareness might be.

I do know, from the skills training and from the fact that our skills training area consists of a couple of soccer pitches inside a tarmac crcuit, that they can lose concentration very easily and they have been known to start to cross the track without looking or thinking, even tho' we drill the need to look before crossing into them almost weekly.

Bear in mind that, altho' I've been coaching kids from 5+ for the last 10 years, I've never had any of my own, so you'll be far more expert on the subject of their development. It may be that, with your constant/regular input and reinforcement, they'll achieve a safety awareness earlier than average, but I suspect that you'll always experience those moments when they turn from a sensible kid to someone who's as mad as a hatfull of badgers in the twinkling of an eye.

It is good to know, tho', that they have the inestimable advantage of having parents who have the natural superiority, over others, of being cyclists.

I trust, however, that you are already building into your household budget the necessity of providing the best possible bikes (mtb, road, cyclo-cross, track and - possibly - bmx) on, at the very least, a two-yearly basis.:D

While I don't wish to intrude into your domestic politics, may I respectfully suggest that you vote for whichever presidential candidate has the policies which will allow you to do the above.

+1.

It occurs to me that you might make another game with him of getting him to point out what might happen at intersections or what a driver might do at a driveway. If they get into the habit of looking out for possible right and left hooks, for example, or looking for clues that might indicate that a driver is about to pull out (front wheels slightly turned, driver has just put on a seatbelt), or someone is about to get out of the car, etc.

I've only worked with older kids and adults on road safety training, as opposed to skills and racing, where the ages range from 5 upwards, so it might be difficult to work out how much information to give them or how sophisticated you expect, or know, that their awareness might be.

I do know, from the skills training and from the fact that our skills training area consists of a couple of soccer pitches inside a tarmac crcuit, that they can lose concentration very easily and they have been known to start to cross the track without looking or thinking, even tho' we drill the need to look before crossing into them almost weekly.

Bear in mind that, altho' I've been coaching kids from 5+ for the last 10 years, I've never had any of my own, so you'll be far more expert on the subject of their development. It may be that, with your constant/regular input and reinforcement, they'll achieve a safety awareness earlier than average, but I suspect that you'll always experience those moments when they turn from a sensible kid to someone who's as mad as a hatfull of badgers in the twinkling of an eye.

It is good to know, tho', that they have the inestimable advantage of having parents who have the natural superiority, over others, of being cyclists.

I trust, however, that you are already building into your household budget the necessity of providing the best possible bikes (mtb, road, cyclo-cross, track and - possibly - bmx) on, at the very least, a two-yearly basis.:D

While I don't wish to intrude into your domestic politics, may I respectfully suggest that you vote for whichever presidential candidate has the policies which will allow you to do the above.

I think my wife is already resigned herself to the fact that she'll never be able to park her car in the garage again!

My daughter visited us here in Colorado this summer. She has very limited experience on a bike (between living in So Cal and having limited free time, she just doesn't ride at home). However, while she was here, she went on several 12+ mile rides with us, some of which were on busy roads with bike lanes. She did really well, was comfortable, and picked up on some of the more difficult things about riding in traffic (left turns, where to go when we want to go straight when the lane splits into two for a right turn) very quickly. I will say that she has grown up around bikes even though she hasn't done much riding, but I would imagine that a child who has had more experience earlier would be even more comfortable.

Based on this experience, I think 10-12 is more than reasonable--especially if you've worked with them or enrolled them in a class through your local community bike shop.

I think it's more about ability than age. My 9-year old is RAPIDLY getting better, but he never really rode at all until earlier this year. He still has some stability issues. One of our main rides is on a former 2-lane road that's now restricted to bikes and pedestrians, and yesterday a guy passed him and he didn't get over. So, I moved up beside him and was telling him to stay to the right of where I was, when he swerved a little bit, it me, and put us both on the pavement .... so yeah, he's definitely not ready for real roads :) Having said that, one of his buddies the same age has been riding his bike around for years and seems to have extremely good control, so I think it's really more experience than age.

I think it's more about ability than age. My 9-year old is RAPIDLY getting better, but he never really rode at all until earlier this year. He still has some stability issues. One of our main rides is on a former 2-lane road that's now restricted to bikes and pedestrians, and yesterday a guy passed him and he didn't get over. So, I moved up beside him and was telling him to stay to the right of where I was, when he swerved a little bit, it me, and put us both on the pavement .... so yeah, he's definitely not ready for real roads :) Having said that, one of his buddies the same age has been riding his bike around for years and seems to have extremely good control, so I think it's really more experience than age.

If it were just a question of having good control, it would be easy, but it's more a question of sense. To give an example, we do a pre-Christmas family ride on a well-known cycling route of 7 miles each way, with a pit-stop at a place called the Cavendish (no relation to the well-known sprinter) at Bolton Abbey, West Yorkshire, UK.

One of our kids, an excellent bike handler at 10 years old, came out onto the road from the private road and proceeded to do a TdF "arms in the air" imitation. Riding no-handed in with a group is bad, so that's presumably why he did it on the wrong side of the road on a blind bend. Just before a damn great SUV came round it. Fortunately, mass screams of "get back on this side of the road!" bought him back just in time.

His bike went into grandma's cellar for the next month.

As I said in my last post, parents know their own kids better than anyone else, but please don't take them on anything but the very quietest roads until you're sure that they are:
1. pretty self-disciplined
2. good bike handlers

and
3. understand, absolutely that they obey every instruction without question or hesitation.

That said, we've had 8 year olds doing 70 milers with dad and an 11 year old doing the full 90 miles miles of a weekend youth hostel trip without problems - and then winning his age group in the national age-group schools c-x champs in the afternoon. Horrid child.

"but we find that, under 8, even with close supervision, they generally lack the conceptual ability to ride safely and consistently."

Really? I have been riding on my own since I was 6 years old and have never been in an accident. Started riding (neighbourhoo) roads when I was 7.

"but we find that, under 8, even with close supervision, they generally lack the conceptual ability to ride safely and consistently."

Really? I have been riding on my own since I was 6 years old and have never been in an accident. Started riding (neighbourhoo) roads when I was 7.

Glad to hear it. However, please note, I wrote and emphasised "generally lack the conceptual ability..." We, too, have had a handful of kids who were perfectly sensible and safe on our quiet road family rides and with their parents, from the age of 6/7.

But the research carried out by the Royal Soc. for the Prevention of Accidents and, no doubt, others in the US, indicates that young children often lack the ability to judge the speed of vehicles and the ability to not suddenly do something dangerous on an impulse.

I re-emphasise that it is up to individual parents to judge on their children's level of ability in this respect, but that it is useful to be aware of the typical upper and lower levels of maturity and conceptual capacities in younger kids.

As a coach, I'm a great believer in stretching our kids abilities, encouraging/urging/pushing them to try new and sometimes scary things (seesaws, ramps, steep slopes, stair riding, etc.), because without that, they don't develop the capacity to recognise and assess risk and to be able to meet such challenges as it poses. They also don't learn to try and fail, get up and try and fail and get up and finally achieve the task in hand.

By the way, some of them can do, safely, things which scare my 68 year old self stiff.

We do them no favours if we continue, as it seems to me all too often, to wrap them in cotton wool and protect them from any possible harm. And I am delighted to hear that there are neighbourhoods in the US where it is possible to do as you have done - but would your parents have had the confidence in you and the local drivers in another environment? Local 5+-year olds ride in the street outside my house and round the corner because it is a small cul-de-sac and they have a lot of fun doing so. But round the other corner on to the local rat run, even tho' parking reduces the speed to <30? Not, as we say over here, on your nellie.