Thread: R.i.p.
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Old 01-06-08, 08:24 PM
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closetbiker
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Originally Posted by Walter
A 7 year old on her first bike will make mistakes. That is true today and was true 36 years ago when I was that age. Why2not makes a good point about such news getting wider dissemination nowadays but I can assure you kids (and adults) got hit by cars "back in the day" as well.

While I agree that her parents should have been out with her I cannot bring myself to openly criticize them. They are enduring unbearable grief right now and they have my deepest condolences. I wish them God's Peace as they try to move forward.
It's pretty sad but it has and will happen again. Children are over represented in cycling accidents

on this page

http://www.helmets.org/bcstudy.htm

it shows that over a 10 year period close to half the fatalities were to children and/or involved drunks (on the bike or in a car)

It also says,

It is one thing for a child to ride a bicycle in a cul de sac. It is another to ride it in thoroughfares busy with myriad types of motor vehicles, varying road conditions (including those under repair) and where there are a variety of signs and signals that are confusing to most of us. When do children's psychomotor skills develop to the extent that they can ride safely in busy traffic? Some researchers indicate that a child's poor comprehension of safety rules may limit the effectiveness of safety education programs because young children do not perceive the traffic environment as do adults. Findings of a study into these matters could have a profound impact on bicycle safety education as well as providing guidelines as to the time when children may 'graduate' to riding on shared roadways.

and recommends,

to conduct a study to determine at what age children become sufficiently mature to understand and follow the rules of the road and, at the same time have the requisite psychomotor skills to do so.


In a different study of all collisions between MV's and cyclists it shows the number of collisions by age



and in this graph it shows some riding behavior by age that may lead to collisions


Last edited by closetbiker; 01-06-08 at 09:22 PM.
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