Riding bikes alone

[Gwenny]

The police came by my house today because my son (age 8) was riding his bike down the side of the road.  He was less than 3 minutes from home, wearing a helmet, and riding along the edge of the road.  We've just moved to this county and I really didn't think it too dangerous.  The road is 35 mph (of course cars go faster), but he pulls over to the ditch or grassy area when he hears a car.  After riding with the kids 2 miles 3x/week to speech at the neighborhood school over the last 3 years, I felt he would be okay and understood the "rules of the road".

 

 

So I what I'm wondering is, when can I let my kids (11 and 8) to ride down the road alone?  The road is a 2 mile dead end country road and we live about halfway down the road.  There are no sidewalks, but much less traffic than a suburban neighborhood as the houses are all on many acres each.  There is no yellow dividing line down the middle of the road if that helps you understand the type of road it is.

 

I asked the police officer where they can ride their bikes and he said parking lots.  I'm sure he meant empty ones, but then the police would come to tell me the church or whatever complained.

 

 

[catz]

ARG!  That is ridiculous.  Parents should have the autonomy to determine when their kids are ready for stuff like this.  :banghead:

[TechWife]

What issue did the police have with him riding? Was it his age or his location? I think the best thing that you could do is find out if there are any laws in your city/county/state that give you information on where bike riding is allowed and what age children can be unattended. 

 

If your area has a "share the road" law, then your son has the same right to ride on the road that a car does. As a parent, it would be up to you if he can do that safely as long as you are following laws regarding unattended minors. It may be that the officer isn't particularly familiar with cycling if there isn't a lot of it done in your area. 

 

The parking lot comment doesn't make any sense because it doesn't allow bike riding as a mode of transportation. Most people can't get to school or a place of business or even a park by riding only through parking lots. Additionally, as you noted, most parking lots are private property and are usually only for the people conducting business in the immediate area. Through traffic is generally not allowed and being there without having business to attend to is considered trespassing. 

 

 

[creekland]

My kids rode their bikes alone at that age and we never had problems where we live.  I'm wondering if there is something specific about your location.  Can you call the non-emergency number of the police station and ask about local regs?

 

 

[Rachel]

I would think at 8 and 11 in an area you have deemed safe would be fine. I'm comfortable with my 6 year old riding alone in our neighborhood but would not be comfortable with him riding alone just anywhere. He has demonstrated he can handle our neighborhood though.

 

I agree with the pp who suggested finding our the laws for your county.

[bzymom]

For pete's sake!  If you are comfortable with his ability to do so, that should be it.  

 

I don't think my mother knew where we were for 10 hours of the day.  This is just crazy to me.

 

Check your local laws, get a feel for the area and pedal on!

[Ravin]

You should email the coordinator of the Free Range Kids blog.

[maize]

Yikes!

 

I rode my bike to and from school every day, the road that went past our house had a 50 or 55 mph speed limit. We road all around the town as kids.

 

I really don't think the world has become that much more dangerous in the past few decades...

[Catwoman]

What was the policeman's reason for suggesting your child not ride alone on the street? Is there a known pedophile in the area? Have any local children been approached by strangers while they were alone outdoors? Do cars often speed along that street?

 

Before jumping to the conclusion that he was being unreasonable, I would want to know his side of the story.

[fdrinca]

I'm so sorry. I'm so frustrated for you.

 

Also:

 

1. I'm beginning to suspect that childhood (of the parks-and-bike-rides variety) is now a luxury of those who can afford it. By which I mean: afford to live in a sidewalked gated community; afford to have a babysitter or a maid so playground visits can be supervised or houses can be cleaned; afford big backyards so that wandering in the neighborhood is unnecessary.

 

2. We're having minor issues with our current homeschool status (there's some disagreement about if we're correctly enrolled). The result is that we're on the radar of our local school district. While I'm not at all concerned, as we're completely legitimate and my children are safe, supervised, and well cared for, stories like these give me the chills. What if, I can't help but think, what if the truant officer who comes to my door happens to come one of THOSE days, where everything is going wrong? I don't really want to be at the mercy of whatever new off-the-books standard of care is becoming the norm.

[catz]

What was the policeman's reason for suggesting your child not ride alone on the street? Is there a known pedophile in the area? Have any local children been approached by strangers while they were alone outdoors? Do cars often speed along that street?

 

Before jumping to the conclusion that he was being unreasonable, I would want to know his side of the story.

 

Hmm ... well if there was a violation of some law or other additional concern (even if that was just a child being erratic in the road), a responsible officer should have been up front with that information immediately.  I can see where having a police officer at your door with your child could throw you off so you might not be comfortable playing 20 questions with him/her at that time.  I'd consider a follow up call.  If there was an additional concern like criminal activity in the area, it seems unlikely to me the police officer would recommend a child should bike in a parking lot (which is not the best recommendation anyway). 

 

I find these sorts of violations of pretty basic parenting decisions pretty alarming.  I hope your 8 year old wasn't too bothered by this. 

 

[Gwenny]

The police came because they received a call from a neighbor.  There are no known pedophiles or anything, but he mentioned that farm equipment goes down the road.  It's true that trucks carrying hay and the occasional tractor or horse goes down the road. 

 

During our first week here, a neighbor from down the road came by to tell me my kids were in the street.  My son was on scooter, and my daughter (11), was on foot beside him.  My kids are the skittish, scared type, and ran to the side of the road when she passed and were not in the way of her car. She told us then that the police have had to be called out several times for the family across the street because they let their kids ride and play near the road and in the ditches.  It's likely she is the one who calls, as it would be difficult for her to know about police activity at the home when she lives a mile down the road.  Her reason for not wanting them walking or riding on the road was the farm equipment, which makes me think it was her that called this time as well.  The police came out recently for the family across the street because the children were walking down the street "unattended".  One of the "children" was their 18 year old sister.  She's old enough to have children of her own and as the oldest of a family of 9, I'd say she was qualified to walk them down the street.

 

I don't think that it helped that my son was with 2 of the kids (8 and 11) from across the street when the police came.  When I asked if my son was in the street when he drove past, it said "no, he rode into the ditch".  He then stated that one of the neighbor's kids didn't and could have been hit. 

 

He said the next time I could be fined, so I suppose I need to look into if bike riding is truly illegal here or neglectful on my part.  My suspicion is that the neighbor is a busybody and should mind her own business.

 

My kids are devastated.  They are angry that we moved them out here to the country and now that can't even ride bikes. 

[AimeeM]

Wowzers. No clue. I live in a downtown district, but in a subdivision. A busy subdivision at that. Our eldest has been riding her bike solo (or with a friend) since age 9 or so? Maybe even 8. No cops. Now she's 13, and doesn't really ride her bike these days, but jogs solo, walks solo, and there are tons of kids riding bikes, driving golf cards (young teens about her age or a bit older), or just *being* solo. 

 

[Gwenny]

Maybe it's the common practice of the area?  The school buses come down the street and there are swing sets in yards here, but I've never seen any other kids outside except for the previously mentioned neighbors.  It seems the people in the area don't let them go outside.  One of our neighbors even seemed alarmed that I let my kids play in the woods because there could be snakes.  Yes, I know there are snakes, but it seems a sad childhood to never play in the woods, climb trees, or ride your bike.  As a kid, I played outside, all day, completely unattended.  We played in the woods, rode our bikes (no helmets even), and walked across a major road to 7-eleven.  I'm sure we did plenty of dumb things, but I don't think the risk was too great.  Children die in car accidents and we don't stop driving them around with us.  The get hurt in sports and countless other activities but we still enroll them.  Surely abduction has lower rates?

 

[Trish]

Maybe he's familiar with the Jacob Wetterling story and therefore has a superabundance of caution.

 

How well do you know the neighbors?

[Farrar]

I would push the police for some clarity. Is it illegal? What will they do about it if you continue? I told this story recently here, but my kids were recently confronted by the police for being alone somewhere. In the end, dh confronted the police about it and they said they didn't care, they were only responding to a complaint. It was no big deal to them. So I guess I would give some, polite, respectful pushback about your rights and your kids' right to be outside.

 

I'm so mad on your behalf. I hope you're able to fight it.

[KungFuPanda]

I had a free-range childhood, but we never free-ranged alone. There were at least two of us, and usually a dog or two. We WERE allowed to ride our bikes on the dirt road in front of the house, but not the paved road at the end of it. It was rather rural too, but while we could roam the woods endlessly, the paved road was a no-no and we could avoid it and still get everywhere we needed to go.

 

My kids are growing up in the suburbs. There are sidewalks, bike paths, and bike lanes on the road. I only ever see adults or older teens use the bike lanes. Kids stick to the sidewalk and paths. Kids do play outside all the time around here.

 

I guess my opinion is free-range is nice if they're not alone and a small child biking alone on a road seems vulnerable to me. I'm probably overly cautious and I've never seen your road. Cops, however, are like ER docs. They see the worst situations and have a heightened danger radar. The odds are your son did nothing illegal but the situation made the cop nervous enough to bring it to your attention. I'm guessing it came from concern rather than a place of bullying or overstepping.

[Mrs Mungo]

I guess my opinion is free-range is nice if they're not alone and a small child biking alone on a road seems vulnerable to me.

I think by "alone" the OP meant "without a parent." Later in the thread she says that he was with some other kids at the time.

[Jean in Newcastle]

How fast do cars go on the road?  A road with no sidewalks makes me more wary even when I'm the one walking or riding my bike on it.  If cars go slowly (say 25 mph or less if they see a child) then I have no problem.  If they go faster, then it goes beyond my personal comfort level.  My kids ride all over and have since they were around 8 but we have speed limits that are within my comfort level.  

[creekland]

I suppose I need to look into if bike riding is truly illegal here or neglectful on my part.  My suspicion is that the neighbor is a busybody and should mind her own business.

 

My kids are devastated.  They are angry that we moved them out here to the country and now that can't even ride bikes. 

 

I'd definitely be checking into it - then taking on that neighbor if there's no law on her side.  She should not be able to run other families just because she's overly fearful.  She may not even be in her right mind to be honest.  My MIL insisted we pick up all the sticks (4 - 8 inches long, less than an inch diameter) at her cottage because if we didn't the boys might trip over them and get hurt.   :glare:  The boys are my college age kids.  She'll also insist that going into the water on a (river) beach will lead to automatic drowning unless the parent is right next to the kid.  (She has dementia, but she does threaten to call the police to warn them.)

 

Farm equipment is on our roads ALL THE TIME and has never come into conflict with a bike rider or pedestrian.  Cars would be more dangerous to be honest.

 

I would NOT let another adult tell me how I could raise my kids.  I'd be siding with that other family who ignores her.  They may be thankful you've moved into the neighborhood!  ;)  Have you talked with them about madame busybody yet?  They could be a wealth of knowledge.

[Word Nerd]

I would contact the PD and discuss this further with them so you know the specific regulations and ordinances in your area. What law would you be in violation of that would warrant a fine? If you aren't actually violating any laws, I'd ask them to inform Ms. Busybody or confront her personally.