Perceptions of personal risk

Perceptions of personal risk includes ‘issues of permission’, ‘lack of confidence’, ‘bad past experiences’ in relation to cycling, the danger of ‘cycling in groups or with children’,

‘stranger danger’, ‘bad quality of surfaces’, ‘unsafe and rundown areas’ and ‘lack of bike safety and security’ (Figure 5.2),

Figure 5.2: Perceptions of personal risk

Issues of permission

The main issue in relation to safety reported by children for not walking or cycling is getting their parents’ permission in order to be allowed to do it,

CHA-AG4: “My mum doesn’t think is safe because there is a lot of main roads where we live and we live like opposite a big road” (Girl aged 12-16)

In further discussing the issue some children perceived that they could and would walk or cycle on their own if they were allowed to, but their parents don’t allow them because of their own safety fears. In fact, some children reported to have ventured to walk or cycle further away on their own without their parents even knowing about it.

Parents and carers, on the other hand, expressed concern about the immature judgment on the part of their children to negotiate traffic and their ability to make good split-second decisions. This concern was age and gender related, as they perceived that younger and male children lose concentration easier than the female ones:

PC-SSI-16: Some children cannot anticipate the fast moving traffic. And even with training, in the case of my youngest children, I think I will have to test them, I don’t trust them fully. (female parent)

PC-SSI-15: My boy is going to be 9 and my girl is going to be 10, if they are going to walk together, I trust the girl more that her brother because she is more patient and alert for crossing roads (female parent)

Lack of confidence

Children report their own age and ability to negotiate ‘traffic’ and having to cross ‘main roads’ on the way to school as a limitation to walking and cycling, whilst parents and carers report a ‘lack of confidence’ about cycling on roads with heavy traffic,

CHA-AG1: “Because you really young and you might not really know how to cross the road and a car can knock you down” (Girl aged 7-11)

Bad past experiences

Parents and carers reported accidents in childhood as the reason why they currently do not cycle:

PC-SSI-16: “Yes, I would like to but I had a bad experience, a kind of accident during my childhood and that left me feeling quite nervous about cycling. So I would have to overcome those fears first” (female parent)

Cycling in groups or cycling with children

Children are frightened about getting injured while cycling in groups: ‘it’s more dangerous to cycle with friends as they may get in the way’ or due to problems with the bike, i.e. ‘chain falls off’. Cycling with children is considered by some parents as ‘dangerous’, ‘more risky’ and a ‘major responsibility’ and causes them fears of having to ‘squeeze’ in on roads with heavy traffic:

PC-SSI-06: “It is too dangerous to be cycling on the road with the children. I think I’d still use my car” (female parent)

PC-SSI-15: “but I’m afraid of cycling, mainly on the main roads, because of the traffic. I had an accident whilst cycling with my daughter not too long ago, because a big car got too close to us and I was riding near the kerb and I got so nervous about it, that I lost my balance and I fell over with the bike” (female parent)

Stranger danger

The presence of ‘strange’ people on the route to school deters some children from walking. In the case of younger children, they report fear of strangers or fears of abduction. Parents also report fears for children’s safety in terms of ‘stranger danger’ for not letting them walk or cycle unsupervised,

CHA-AG4: “I don’t like walking through the alleyway because I’ve seen strange men; they are always there, so I always ask mum for a lift” (boy aged 7-11)

PC-SSI-15: “I don’t think so, because we have also have some warnings from the police and the school about children safety, because it seems that there have been some cases of older people trying to approach children on their own. So, I’m afraid of this and that is why I stay with my daughter at all times, I wouldn’t leave her alone” (female parent)

In addition, female parents reported that other people’s behaviour as a barrier to walking,

PC-FG1: “Sometimes when I walk nearby my house there are people messing around and drinking. It discourages me walking from my house to the places near these people’s house” (female parent)

Unsafe and rundown areas

Children fear walking and cycling through risky routes involving run down or poorly lit areas where they could be ‘hurt’, ‘bullied’, ‘beaten up’ or ‘attacked’,

CHD-SSI-22: “When I go through the first alleyway, the house, like at the side of it, the bricks are falling apart, falling down and then there is this metal stick sticking out, is like a pin and at the end is very sharp and I fell once and I hurt my knee, is like, the stick is this big and it is metal” (boy aged 12-16)

CHA-AG4: “in winter when it is dark on the alleyways, my Nan just tells me to walk around the long way, where there are more people and is more safe and there is more light” (boy aged 7-11)

Bad quality of surfaces

Children consider the bad quality of the walking or riding surfaces, i.e., uneven pavements, slippery or icy surfaces (particularly in winter) to be dangerous, as they may ‘slip’ and ‘fall’. Walking is also considered ‘inconvenient’ if there are puddles or muddy surfaces and ‘uncomfortable’ if the surfaces are cobblestoned. Parents also consider walking ‘unsafe’ on uneven pavements or on wet and icy conditions,

CHA-AG4: “When it’s been raining, in the alleyway, is always really slippy [sic] and I always fall over because the path is made of like cobble stones, and also there are huge gaps on them. I think is mainly on winter that they get really slippy [sic]” (boy, aged 7-11)

Lack of bike safety and security

Children worry about bike security at school (lack of locks, bike theft). Parents also consider bike security (lack of locks, lack of secure parking, and bike theft) as a barrier to cycling,

CHD-SSI-21: “Most people’s stuff at my school gets stolen a lot, so [cycling] it is like not the safest thing to do” (girl, aged 12-16)