More than 20,000 schoolchildren in County Durham have benefitted from vital cycle safety training since it began in 2009.
Bikeability, the Government-approved national standard for cycle training, is the modern-day cycling proficiency course developed to give young people the knowledge, skills and confidence they need on the roads.
It has been run by Durham County Council’s road safety team since 2009 and now a major milestone has been reached as more than 20,000 children have successfully completed the training.
Paul Watson, the council’s road safety manager, said: “To date, we have now trained a total of 20,853 pupils from primary schools throughout the county since we began six years ago.
“We are absolutely delighted to reach this milestone as not only does the Bikeability training provide children with essential cycling skills and confidence, but it also promotes road safety awareness and longer term health and fitness.
“Our aim is for every child in County Durham to have successfully completed level two of the training by the time they leave primary school.”
The Bikeability course takes place over three progressive levels. Level one is held on the school playground and focuses on basic control skills such as braking safely, riding in a straight line, riding around obstacles and using gears effectively.
Level two involves on-road training that takes place on risk-assessed quiet local roads in real traffic conditions. Pupils learn road positioning, how to pass parked cars and left and right turns into major and minor roads.
Level three is an advanced phase for secondary school students and sessions are held on busier roads with more complex junctions.
Bikeability sessions prove really beneficial for the children. It increases their confidence to be able to use their newfound skills on the road as well as preparing them to be able to safely deal with cars and other road users.
The road safety team recently secured £20,000 of Department of Transport funding to deliver level one Bikeability training to an extra 1,000 pupils in the county.
Andrew Richardson, Bike-ability cycle training instructor, said: “The training gives young riders crucial experience that develops decision-making skills, enabling them to cycle safely in traffic. The sessions are fun too, with pupils telling us that they help them become more confident when riding their bicycles.”