A few weeks before the start of the school term, banners and signs appear to remind drivers that children are to be expected to be on bikes in larger numbers again. The banner reads "The schools are starting again".
Inside the heart symbols it reads "drive with your heart".Virtually all school children travel by bike in the Netherlands.
I have previous posts about cycle parking at schools, including videos of primary and secondary age children travelling to and from school, the extent of cycle parking at schools, and about school trips, all tagged with school travel.
The school are already back here. Below are a few photos of the school run at the same school where I made this video:
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| It's safe for all ages because what looks like a road in these photos is actually a cycle-path from which motor vehicles are excluded. |
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| Primary (elementary) school cycle parking. Children overwhelmingly ride their own bicycles. |
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| Primary (elementary) school cycle parking |
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| Bakfietsen are used only to transport some of the very youngest children. Others ride their own bikes. |
6 comments:
Not to be picky, but the banner actually says: "The schools have begun again". So everybody needs to be aware the children are already out on the streets.
I say everybody, because it also says "Drive or RIDE with your heart". There is no difference between the two in Dutch so cyclists are also addressed.
This campaign is great. But I doubt there are people who didn't notice all the extra traffic! ;-)
Thats Terrific ,over here in Dublin maybe one Child Cycling to School and a Fleet of Cars and SUV's Dropping off their Children with the Roads Clogged with School Traffic each Morning and Afternoon. You can Replicate this all over the Country.
The Government is trying to Change this now and Promote Cycling for School Children but they need to put in Safe Cycling Infrastructure.
They would not even have the Brains to think of putting up Banners to warn Motorists to Drive slow and watch for Children Cycling.
As l'homme au velo said, the same happens in the UK. Countless towns, cities and villages clogged with protective parents ferrying the kids to school in SUV, 4x4, and any manner of estate car. They are oblivious to the fact a 1 to 2 mile ride to school will be beneficial to their offspring, and if more of them did it, there would be fewer cars on the road, increasing safety and reducing pollution. I haven’t even gone into the physical advantages and the cost-saving exercise!!
These pictures are delightful! I love the banners and wish there was more publicity in the U.S. I'm not sure how effective it would be, but better than nothing. Too bad most of the traffic on the road around schools is parents driving kids in. I had so much fun riding my bike to school as a kid.
School started up here in Ontario on Tuesday. I live in close proximity to about six schools. Since Tuesday I've only seen one kid riding their bike into school.
Of course if you go by the schools, they are loaded with mini-vans and SUV's dropping the kids off.
its sad, the middle school here does not even have bike parking! I note usually 15+ plus bikes chained to a fence every day, the highschool has just as many, yeah its a small amount but there is at least a demand for parking for christs sake!
good to see, and again nothing that the Netherlands has done that the US or any other industrialised nation can't do, political will and speaking out is what it takes(which are lacking unfortunately)
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