13/10/03 - Safety Scheme hits the road

Cycle training in West Cumbria schools is a priority this week as both volunteer instructors and young cyclists undergo training at Valley School in Whitehaven. The adult volunteers and the pupils of Valley School will be out in their high-visibility clothing on the roads around the school on Friday October 17.

Cumbria County Council Cabinet member with responsibility for transport, Councillor Kevan Wilkinson, said:

“Cycling proficiency training schemes are vital in reducing the number of children injured on Cumbria’s roads, which is about 50 a year on average.

“Studies by staff at the Transport Research Laboratory suggest that training children to ride safely has a lasting positive effect on their knowledge and practice of road safety. 

“The work of the instructors is invaluable and we are pleased to see more volunteers coming forward to take on that role.”

Cycling proficiency training is part of the travel plan produced last year by Valley School under Cumbria County Council’s Better Ways To School scheme, which aims to make journeys to and from school safer and more sustainable. The Mirehouse traffic safety scheme also supports the school travel plan with a number of traffic calming measures and other pedestrian safety measures that were identified in the travel plan. The cycling proficiency course, in which a dozen children are taking part, is supported by the community Southside scheme, which offers free cycle safety checks.

Eight adult trainee instructors are also being put through their paces at the same time by Capita road safety officers, working on behalf of Cumbria County Council, and other experienced instructors. They are volunteers who will go on to deliver training to pupils at Valley School and three other Whitehaven area junior schools -- Hensingham, St Begg’s and Moresby.

In West Cumbria the cycling proficiency training scheme operates in over 50 junior schools, with more than 100 instructors training 500 children a year to national standards set by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. The pupils’ course covers theory as well as practical on-road cycle training.