Does anyone else think that admiring a very young child’s cycling skills, when he can have no idea of what the terms ‘death’ and ‘injury’ mean, is
not the right-thinking person’s view of the issue?

For example:

QUOTE Preschool-aged children may start to understand that adults fear
death. This age group may view death as temporary or reversible, as in cartoons. Death is often explained to this age group as "went to heaven."
Most children in this age group don't understand that death is permanent,
that everyone and every living thing will eventually die, and that dead
things don't eat, sleep, or breathe. Death should not be explained as
"sleep."

Their experience with death is influenced by those around them. They may
ask questions about "why?" and "how?" death happens. The preschool child
may feel that their thoughts or actions have caused the death and sadness
of those around. They may have feelings of guilt and shame.

When children in this age group become seriously ill, they may think it's punishment for something they did or thought about. They don't understand
how their parents could not have protected them from this illness.

This idea may make preschool-age siblings of a dying child feel as if they
are the cause of the illness and death. Young siblings of dying children
need reassurance and comforting during this time period, as well. ENDQUOTE


swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

A video of a five-year-old kid, picking his way through the traffic
safely on a single-lane road full of cars in all four directions, has
gone viral on social media, with many people pointing out that despite
the kid’s brilliant riding skills, poor cycling infrastructure like these are continuing to put off people from cycling.

Francesca Savage was making her way back home to Haringey in north London after a trip to Finsbury Park, with her husband and her son, but they
were met with a cycle lane, which was out of its “operating hours” and so naturally, parked full of cars, and slow-moving traffic desperate to get
in front of the three cyclists.

There’s barely any space in between the parked cars, where the cycle lane should have been, and the vehicles presumably waiting at a signal. As the child makes his way past the standing traffic, the cars start moving,
with a black BMW swerving to get in front and past him even when he’s alongside the front wheel of the car.

However, that doesn’t put him off, as he continues to make his way
forward, sticking to his lane, not wobbling under intimidation, and even positioning himself slightly more centrally — all while maintaining
direct eye contact with the driver.

Savage told road.cc that her son had learned to ride a bike by the time
he was just about to turn three, and even did his first solo trip on his
own bike from Tottenham into central London when he was three and a half years of age.

She said: “[He’s had] no professional training, other than from his parents — my partner and I. We cycle a lot, it’s our primary mode of transport. So we have been teaching from a young age. One of us is always
in front and one behind.

“When I speak to my friends with kids, the primary reason they don’t cycle with their kids is safety. I think driving behaviours affect kids riding as a form of transport as their parents are put off using a bike
over the car due to safety.”

She added she sees this sort of congestion regularly, especially at key
times of the day such as school pick up and drop off times. “It affects
us because if feels less safe when cycling around, I also think it’s a
huge deterrent to people who might consider cycling if it were not for
the road dangers,” she said.

Cyclists on social media platforms were in awe of the kid, praising him
for his mature-beyond-his-years demeanour and handling of the bike. One person said: “The MGIF vibes from the driver here are strong, but the five-year-old holds them back with aplomb by looking back and
communicating that he's ahead.”

A councillor from West Berkshire commented: “That is a very confident and Road-aware youngster. Well done to the parents for that superb training.
As an adult I would have wobbled & bailed! I agree, I’d love to see a
cycle safe infrastructure. With so many financial pressures on most
services, it’s going to be tough.”

Others were in praise of the couple’s parenting: “Your son has serious cycling skills & he is only 5, many adults don’t have such road
awareness. Outstanding parenting.”

Savage was critical of the fact that on the A10, where the footage was
from, the operating hours for the bike lane are Monday to Saturday, from
7am to 7pm. “Outside of these hours, people can park on the cycling lane. There is no segregation so there is nothing to deter cars parking in the cycling lane outside these house,” she said.

However, there were a few people who thought that the parents were using their child to make a point and putting him in danger.

Savage told road.cc that it wasn’t the case, as cycling is their primary mode of transport. “In Haringey less than half of house holds own a car
so many people rely on active travel and public transport. The cycling
lane parking makes it an unsafe environment for more vulnerable road
users and will prevent them from potentially making the switch from their
car to a bike,” she said.

Last year, a similar video of a motorist driving past a five-year-old
cycling within touching distance went viral. As most people called for
better infrastructure and defended the kid, two Conservative politicians threw their hat in the ring and argued that the child should not have
been cycling on the road in the first place — not much unlike this recent incident, where people asked Savage that why didn’t she go to the pavement with her kid.

Other asked if there were any other safer alternatives than using a trunk road like the A10, to which Savage replied: “We avoid main roads as much
a possible, using quiet street and cycle paths whenever possible.
Sometimes however transversing busier roads, even for short distances, is unavoidable.”

https://road.cc/content/news/5-year-old-cyclist-navigates-traffic-and-blocked-bike-lane-303081

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Spike

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