mihlbach

My seven year old has been riding on roads since he was 3, riding to daycare, running local errands with me, and joy riding. Kids learn the road rules pretty easily, but that doesn't mean that they ride predictably, are aware of their surroundings, or understand the consequences of getting nailed by a vehicle. Even at seven, kids easily get distracted, forget to watch where they are going, and do unpredictable things that are beyond your control, like swerving to the left without looking behind, darting in and out of the "door zone", or darting into intersections without looking. In nearly four years we haven't had any close calls, but I limit all of his road riding to side roads where cars are infrequent enough that I get things under control by the time the car passes. The roads generally seem much safer and far more navigable than sidewalks. However, I wouldn't dare take a kid out on a busy street, even if there was good bike infrastructure...because, like I said, kids will do stupid things beyond your control. We avoid busy roads and/or ride slowly on the sidewalk when necessary, generally behaving more like pedestrians when we do.