Bike safety for kids 9-12 years
There are no set guidelines on how old you have to be to take your bike onto streets instead of the sidewalk so each parent has to come to that decision for themselves. However, in general a child who is between 9 and 12 has probably developed the cognitive ability to be able to take their bike on the road. Once they hit this age range they will be better equipped to make educated decisions on changing lanes and dealing with cars on the road.
Of course any child who is just learning how to bicycle should always have adult supervision, and even if you child has ridden for a while it is not a bad idea to do a refresher course every now and again. Parents should spend a bit of time talking to their preteen about how to select a good travel route. You should spend time talking about how bike lanes, trails, and streets with less traffic are always a good choice for your cyclist to use. Additionally, you need to spend some time talking about how just because you’re on your own street doesn’t mean that you can be any less safe than you would anywhere else.
The tricky thing about educating any 9-12 year old is to make sure that you snag their interest. You don’t want them to be bored with the information that you’re giving them or they’ll "tune out". Let them find some of the information on their own by surfing the internet or doing some research at your local library.
You will also want to teach your preteen some of the more advanced bicycling rules and concepts. For example, you will want to teach your child that they have to ride with traffic otherwise they’ll be breaking a law. You can also teach them how to ride with another cyclist while still maintaining the safety of their own bike. You can also talk about how you should go about changing lanes (i.e. looking behind you), navigating around parked cars, or dealing with turning. If your child is headed out onto the streets it is also really important to talk to them about the hand signals that you need to use to alert drivers and other bikers to your actions on the road.
For any 9-12 year old their bike can be their key to independence. For any 9-12 year olds parent their safety on the bike is the key to their peace of mind. By taking a little time to educate your preteen you will be ensure that they have all of the information that they need to stay safe on the road!
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