I don't want to spoil anyones fun and this is really a continuation of the posting on speeding.
It is fine to always blame the car drivers but is it just me who is concerned over the speed and lack of road sense with kids cycling around the campsite.
I have just returned from the caravan club site at pembrey where there is a 5mph limit and one way system whichnis generally adhered to by most cars, however both of which are totally ignored by the kids on bikes.
During the holiday I saw 2 near miss incidents where kids were cycling against the one-way system and very narrowly avoided hitting a car and another incident where a kid was racing to overtake an outfit who was driving slowly round the site and the driver saw the child at the last minute and stopped just in time.
As I said at the strt of this posting I don't want to ruin anyones fun on holiday. In none of the above was the driver at fault but does a child need to be killed before it makes people and parents do something about it.
A child was killed at a CC site in York a few years ago, the driver was blameless, and like many accidents it was avoidable.
Site roads are used as a private racetrack by kids on bikes, it is something of a miracle that the accident rate is thankfully as low as it is.
For the young it is a chance to let their hair down in relative safety, for the parents (at least some of them) they are on holiday as well and as long as they can have some peace and quiet - well the kids can't come to any harm, can they?
We've just got back from Incleboro Fields where some youngsters were lapping the site on bikes hitting silly speeds on the steep downhill sections where they wouldn't have a hope in hell of stopping if they had to, and as its over half a mile around the site the parents wouldn't have a clue if something happened.
This is a subject which has been covered in depth before, I expect it will become as heated as usual..........
i had 3 close one over easter, one with a kid on a bike not looking where they were going, another with a child on foot just wandering accross the road without looking and another from two elderlypeople who should of known better,after parking there car making people have to drive through a small gap they left between themselfs and the site own quad who was loading, the as im very slowly going through,swinging the passanger door wide open without one thought to anyone behind. so its not just kid's. but i do understand your gripe's
I'm not saying that kids on bikes are solely at fault.
I've got young kids who have grown up on caravan sites and I would hope that they have a degree of road sense.
There appears to be a perception that the roads around caravan sites are a kids playground/racetrack when in reality there are lots of grass safe areas where they can play safely. I am the last person to advocate that kids should be wrapped up in cotton wool and that the whole world is a dangerous place.
I am sure that this posting may well ruffle a few feathers and that I am seen as someone who simply want to ruin the enjoyment of peoples holidays, but I would be devastated to see a child get hurt or god forbid killed.
I totally agree to be honest but I don't think it is just a bike issue, I think it is the fact that children are just given a bit of freedom and not reminded that they are sharing the space with lots of other people...btw not against kids as we go away with our own aged 8 and 10.
The only issues we had when away at Easter was myself and daughter (8) having to jump off the road because we had 3 kids on bikes hurtling towards us and having to speak to (older) kids at the playground who were being territorial about the play equipment and wouldn't let other kids play.
Generally speaking though the children we saw when away we well behaved and there seemed to be a lot of parent - child interaction, which is what we think holidays are all about.
Whilst there's no excuse for drivers speeding on site, that doesnt absolve parents of their responsibility for their children. As a single parent I know how tempting it is to let your child run off to make friends on a campsite and sit back for a little R&R without a care in the world, but children need rules on holiday just like at home, they might be slightly different is all.
My daughter is taught to treat the 'roads' on campsites exactly the same as those anywhere else, as well as basic other etiquette such as not crossing other people's pitches, not being excessively noisy after an hour when smaller children may be sleeping and so on. The fact that cars are required to go so slowly is certainly not an excuse for parents to allow their children to run riot. At clumber park last summer some children on bikes were treating the site literally as a race track, timing their lap speeds etc. Their parents must have seen them, because the circuit used all the 'roads'.
Despite my main concern, obviously, being my child, I am also aware that we all have a responsibility to keep places safe for everyone. My biggest dilemma is always whether or not to speak to other people's children, or go and seek out their parents, when they are putting themselves and others at risk.
Might sound strange but in some ways this can be a good thing, its generally safer on site than out on the public highway and it can help kids find boundaries regarding being safe, a close scare makes them learn and hopefully wont do the same again, might be a strange angle to look at this but you can tell kids the dangers hundreds of times but how many times does it sink in until they have first hand experience,
------------- Doing as little as possible for as much as possible...
A campsite is not a playground, and a bike is not a "toy". But given how people of all ages ride bikes on the public road, campsite cycling is not really a big problem! So many children and adults seem to have a death wish when they climb on to two wheels.
Motorists (who automatically get the blame for any accident, no matter how caused) have to regard anyone on a bike like a landmine - don't get too close, and don't make any sudden moves!
------------- * You never know where you're going 'til you get there...
We were on a CC site in Kent last year where, several times a day, a large group of youngsters would racing round the site roads and then veer off between the vans. Speaking to them about the dangers didn't seem to work and eventually the warden had to threaten to ban all cycling on site.
Pete.
------------- Don't panic!
Hit it with a pointed stick!
Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
Its also quite scarey just how young some of these children are, we have seen many who are not more than babies of 2 or 3 yrs old racing around on bikes with stabilizers on, trying to keep up with the rest of the tribe, i doubt they even know what their brakes are for,or even if they have any on that type of bike, and often rely on just slamming their feet down on the ground to stop. The same bikes are often fitted with a rear 'parent handle' designed for parents to push their babes along, and are more suitable to an enclosed nursery yard or being used as a type of short haul pushchair than being let loose on a public pavement or road unaccompained by an adult.
The thing that does concern me most is the lack of safety kit these kids have, whilst it might be seen by them and their peers as being 'uncool' to wear a full helmet and knee and elbow pads, they are real life savers to anyone who comes off a bike at speed, and just as motorbike leathers protect flesh from becoming meatpaste when its dragged along a roadsurface, likewise pushbikers should also take heed and make sure theres always a decently thick layer of fabric beween their flesh and the road, if an accident should occur.
Julia
------------- Just love to be out amoungst Nature and Wildlife
Celebrating 37 years of Caravanning in 2019, Recently Considered Retiring, but Totally Addicted for Life!
hi iam new to this site and don't want to upset any ones feelings but i will put what i believe to be true.
If you are looking for a quite holiday with no kids then book somewhere where its about relaxing and reading books than getting shirtie when you hear kids playing and enjoying themselves (you too were young once).
If you have young ones book onto family sites where other parents understand the term let your kids have fun.
I have always taught my children the right way to behave whilst riding their bikes around the sites, and to mind out for peoples property and cars.
I get my children to always ride in the direction that the camp sites have in-force and not towards any oncoming traffic.
Its not other parents responsibility for other children's actions , i have worked many years on a holiday park and the main problem regarding children's actions or where their are playing is because the parents are to busy getting drunk and not bothering to look after they children.
Whilst some of you may have a problem with kids riding bikes around sites, my problem is and always was the parents who think its acceptable to drive whilst under the influence of drink from the club house or from their accommodation just to nip to the on park shop,this i know is more dangerous as a child could (and ive seen) get seriously hurt.
Children learn from there parents.
mine have learnt to behave and respect everyone and everything.
But don't judge one child as the same as another.
Whist i understand peoples problems with some children riding in a aggressive manor.
this i understand as our daughter was knocked of her bike by another child tearing around the site.
this is all part of growing up and learning the dangers of life.
The drivers around site should take more care and slow down more and understand that children don't think as grown ups and to cut them some slack and allow them to have fun but in the right way.
Even if there were no cars moving around on site as is the case with those sites who request all cars must be parked in a main carpark away from the pitches except for towing onto and off pitches there are still other obsticles and dangers for children to look out for, either for their own sake or that of pedestrians whilst travelling at speed around a campsite.
If we remove drivers out of the equasion, what about the elderly grandparent or not so mobile person who are staying with family on the site, and have to run the gauntlet of these children who are often in fairly large groups as they whiz past them at speed on whatever type of wheels they choose to fit to themselves, Try and take a stroll down to the shower block using the paths provided and you will be sure to suffer either verbal abuse from these whizz kids or worse still they will bump into you and knock you off your feet. I totally agree that children often learn by the example of their parents rather than being told what to do, or what not to do, but they will always take 'dares' from other children no matter how much their parents tell them not to.
To get anything vaguely like an ideal situation, and to make a campsite more pleasent for all concerned, if you or your children want to bike ride or scoot/rollerskate then pick a place with nearby cycle tracks and cycle as a family, that way everyone is happy, and parents are on hand to teach their children the rights and wrongs of road safety whilst they are on their bikes or other forms of wheels.
I have stayed on family sites where all wheeled activity including adult bike riding was banned whilst on the park, even for adults, but as a very good cycle track along the high peak trail was within a few yards of the sites gates, no one minded at all pushing their bike to the entrance and enjoying their ride on this purpose made track, whilst cars where parked in the main carpark adjacent to the shop and reception. This also had the advantage of stopping anyone who had been drinking from using their car for the purposes of nipping across the site in an area where children were around their pitches.
Before anyone jumps on me for these comments, im no way anti-children, i have bought five girls up of my own and have 7 grandchildren, all of whom have been campers and caravanners throughout their lives.
Julia
------------- Just love to be out amoungst Nature and Wildlife
Celebrating 37 years of Caravanning in 2019, Recently Considered Retiring, but Totally Addicted for Life!
i have just returned from an easter break which was spoiled on my 2nd last day due to a child cycling down a very steep path and crashing right into the side of my caravan causing extreme damage thing is i dont know weather my insurance will cover this i reckon its about £1400 of damage if not more the parent has offered to cover the cost but he thinks it will be around £200 i have a whole imprint of a bike on the side of my van can anyone advise please
I agree with Romany girl that bikes should be banned on sites, not just because of potential accidents on the roads but collisions with caravans and tents.
A lot of campsites don't have smoothly tarmaced roads and do have bumpy grass and it's very easy for a child or adult to hit a bump or hummock & veer into someones unit.
We were away over Easter and there were loads of kids on bikes riding between their pitches & the play area over bumpy, grass covered ground & several of them lost control, swerving all over the place & had to put their feet down to stop them falling off.
We all no someone who has had their car or caravan damaged by someone on a bike. As I child, I was run over by a cyclist on the pavement. I really don't have any patience with cyclists who think they are above the law. They should treat other road users with the same respect they expect to receive.
What really gets my goat is when they choose not to use a purpose built cycle lanes that have been built for them but rather weave about in the road stopping motorists from getting past, or use the pavement, forcing pedestrians into the road.
I dont know if sites are not as sticked now adays but as a kid there would be a large family group ususly 4 caravans go away togethere so there were at least 10 cousin with bikes on campsites. I know were ever we camped the site warden would alway tell us the site rules about not going fast and treeting the site rds as we would normail rds. hand signal, and staying on the left hand side, keeping speed down and never even to over take cars ect. i remeber a cousin being a bit cheeky one year and going flat out. within 5 minets he was brought back to the caravan mum and dad told with a warning that if he did it again the hole family would have to leave the site by the site warden.
even though my kids are past the bike stage now I think kids on bikes is part of a camp site but rules need to be layed down for perants aswell as the kids to undrestand and if they cant behave then they leave.
I spent may hours niping to the site shop or chippy for my mum and dad on my chopper. Its part of the fun but it need to be safe for everyone
------------- Dyslexic not stuped
It's nice to be important but its more important to be nice
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Topic: Children on bikes
