Appendix E: Teaching Your Child The Rules - Diamondback Bicycle Owner's Manual

APPENdIx E
teaching Your Child the Rules
in addition to The Basics (page 7), Riding Safely (page 8), Off Road Safety (page 8), Wet Weather Riding (page 9), Night Riding (page 9), Extreme,
Downhill, Stunt, or Competition Riding (page 10), and Bicycling in Traffic (appendix F - page 41), kids need to be taught — and to have frequently
reinforced — the following rules and lessons which adults are already expected to know. We urge you to take the time to familiarize yourself with
these rules and to teach them to your child before you let your child ride unsupervised.
1. rules
• No playing in the road or in the street.
• No riding on busy streets.
• No riding at dawn, dusk or at night.
• Stop for all STOP signs.
• Ride on the right of traffic.
2. Lessons
the lessons that follow relate to some of the most common real situations that children encounter when riding their bikes. go over these
situations with your child and make sure the lesson objective is accomplished.
a. Driveway rideout
When a youngster rides out of the driveway and is struck by a car, that is called a rideout accident.
What can you do? First, realize the danger of your own driveway. if there are obstructions to the view of passing motorists (like bushes
or trees), trim them back. You might park your car in front of the driveway, if local ordinance permits. this way, your child can't use the
driveway as a launching pad.
But the most important thing you can do is teach your child about driveway safety. take your child outside to the driveway and have him/
her practice the following steps:
1) stop before entering the street.
2) look left, right and left again for traffic.
3) if there's no traffic, proceed into the roadway.
b. running the stop sign
Car/bike crashes can happen when a cyclist runs a stop sign. most cyclists who get hit riding through stop signs know that they were
supposed to stop. They just thought it would be OK this time; or they may have been distracted. The thing to impress upon your child is
that while he/she may not get hit every time, running stop signs will eventually result in an accident.
What can you do? take your child to a stop sign near home. explain what it means by emphasizing the following points:
1) stop at all stop signs, regardless of what is happening.
2) look in all directions for traffic.
3) Watch for oncoming cars making left turns.
4) Watch for cars behind you making right turns.
5) Wait for any cross traffic to clear.
6) proceed when safe.
In order to make this lesson stick, you may have to change your own driving habits. If you creep through intersections controlled by stop
signs, you are showing your child that you don't really believe what you preach. For your child's sake, stop at stop signs.
c. Turning without warning
another major accident type involves cyclists who make unexpected left turns. they neither look behind for traffic, nor do they signal. the
key factor here is neglecting to look to the rear. if the cyclist had looked, he/she would have seen the danger coming up from behind.
What can you do? Of course, you ought to teach your child not to ride across busy streets - at least until the child has had some advanced
training and is old enough to understand traffic. But in the meantime, for residential street riding, you can teach your child to always look
and signal before turning left. a big part of this lesson is teaching the child how to look to the rear without swerving.
take your child to a playground or a safe area away from traffic or obstructions to practice riding along a straight line while looking behind.
stand alongside and hold up a different number of fingers on your hand after the child rides by. Call his/her name. after 15 minutes of
practice, a ten year old should be able to look behind his/herself and identify how many fingers you are holding up — without swerving.
d. riding at Dawn, at Dusk or at night (see also section 4.F, page 19)
most car/bicycle accidents happen at night where an overtaking car hits a bike. (an overtaking car is one that comes up from behind and
passes the cyclist on the left.) these overtaking accidents can be very serious.
What can you do? First, you should keep your youngster from riding at dawn, dusk or at night. it requires special skills and equipment.
Few children have either. secondly, make sure your child understands that if he/she gets caught out at dusk or after dark on a bike, the
thing to do is to call you for a ride home. One suggestion is to tape a phone number and money to the bike so that, in an emergency, the
child will be able to call home.
e. Following the Leader
there is increased risk of car/bike collision if children are following each other, because if the first one does something dangerous, those
following may do it too.
What can you do? teach your child to always assess the traffic situation for him/herself. When a group is riding around, each cyclist
should stop for stop signs; each cyclist should look to the rear before making left turns; and so on. One way to get the message across is
to play a game with the child similar to 'simon says'. in this game, however, the emphasis should not be on doing what 'simon says', but
rather have the child make a decision based on the situation. the child should learn to ignore what 'simon says'. Children need to learn
to think for themselves to ride safely.
sUMMArY
teach your child early — the earlier the better. learning skills such as looking and avoiding hazards takes time. Be prepared to repeat lessons
until your child understands what you're trying to get across. Be patient. Your efforts will be rewarded, knowing that your child is aware of safe
riding skills.
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