MOOK- Bike riding the neighborhood

[waverly]

DS is almost 11, and yesterday he and some of his friends of the same age biked the neighborhood.  Siblings also went that are age 8.  The other family's parents checked on them once, and they were by our house having a club meeting lol.  A lot of kids bike, scooter, and skateboard in the neighborhood. 

Anyway, what protocols for safety would you put in place for this?  They all wear helmets.  They know when to be home and one of the boys has a watch, but it did get dark quicker so I probably would have said an earlier time.  The other parents said 7:30.  So we will have to adjust for daylight. 

They know not to go on a main road.  They do know about traffic, but I haven't watched them to see how they were doing with it.  They got a honk when I wasn't watching, so I don't know if that was to honk them to cross the street or a "they did something wrong" honk.  Would you do more with traffic here?  Also would you maybe have them take you on their route.  I wasn't sure exactly where they ended up just that they went on "3 hills". 

The other boy also had walkie talkies but we didn't have one, so I guess maybe his parents could communicate with him, but we couldn't.  DS probably wouldn't take walkie talkies which we do have.  I would like to talk DH into a Gizmo but IDK if he would go for it. 

[mrsGreeko]

I just tell them to stick together and be careful crossing streets.

[acr]

Since DS was probably 9, I was okay with him and his friend biking around the neighborhood, to the playground, etc. One of them had a cell phone & DS usually had a GPS/texting watch on so we could find him.

I didn't really have many rules. Primarily just let me know if he was going to someone's house.

[waverly]

We are not in a subdivision. We are in a neighborhood near a downtown area, so the roads are on a grid. All 25mph with stop signs at every intersection. That doesn't mean every driver follows the rules though. So there is lots of access to other places, but the possibility to just ride in a large circle also. The checks ins were every 30 minutes because the neighbor parents checked on them, but I like that rule going forward. They play in each other yards but don't go in houses because of Covid.

They plan to make this a weekly thing, so I want to be prepared.

I struggle because I was not allowed all over the neighborhood. I think this was mostly because I lived in the country on 55 MPH roads with no sidewalks. I was allowed to occasionally walk to neighbor houses that were .25 miles away and that was about it. I was allowed to walk through the field to another neighbor house, but I don't know at what age maybe 12.

[ilikedonuts]

I basically say ‘Make sure you follow all rules of the road.’ My kids are triathletes and I send them off often to bike 20+ miles without me so I’m sure I’m more relaxed about it then a lot of parents 😂

My 9 year old does have a phone and Apple Watch, but she really only takes them with her if she’s going off on longer rides on bike trails. In our neighborhood, I just tell her to check in at some point with me (not a real time limit).

[ellipses84]

My kids aren’t the strongest bikers or that familiar with rules of the road so we haven’t allowed it yet. I always warn them to watch out for cars pulling in and out as they cross driveways. I want to put them in a bicycle safety course but they all were canceled due to Covid last I looked (someone’s community rec centers have them). I know friends who only let their kids loop around their own block and not cross streets. When they are ready, I’ll let mine go to the park which is 3 blocks away and all the street crossings are pretty quiet intersections with stop signs.

[formerlyak]

When my older Ds started doing this, we’d give boundaries - don’t go past this street to the north, this street to the east, etc.

[dontlook]

We have them take a walkie talkie. If they don’t want to they have to check in every hour.

I text parents if the kids stop by to play at my house/yard just so they know where they are and other parents do the same.

They have to stick together (DD-10 and DS-8).

That’s basically it. I try not to be too rigid about this knowing that I was outside much longer and with no check-in as a child. I learned a lot and gained a lot of independence and resilience during those unsupervised hours and I want the same for my kids.

[boiler717]

Sept 2, 2021 15:37:49 GMT -5 waverly said:

We are not in a subdivision. We are in a neighborhood near a downtown area, so the roads are on a grid. All 25mph with stop signs at every intersection. That doesn't mean every driver follows the rules though. So there is lots of access to other places, but the possibility to just ride in a large circle also. The checks ins were every 30 minutes because the neighbor parents checked on them, but I like that rule going forward. They play in each other yards but don't go in houses because of Covid.

They plan to make this a weekly thing, so I want to be prepared.

I struggle because I was not allowed all over the neighborhood. I think this was mostly because I lived in the country on 55 MPH roads with no sidewalks. I was allowed to occasionally walk to neighbor houses that were .25 miles away and that was about it. I was allowed to walk through the field to another neighbor house, but I don't know at what age maybe 12.

We live in a similar type of area (neighborhood near a large city, 25 mph grid, etc). Generally kids are allowed to bike alone around 8-9 and start crossing the major roads (45 mph) around 11ish.

[outnumbered]

If your son is going to be biking more I would invest in really good helmet. My son has a Bontrager with MIPs. It is bright orange and you can see him from quite a distance away. He should also have a blinking red rear light and a head light. These can catch the attention of distracted drivers and prevent accidents. The lights can be found on Amazon and are rechargeable. My son goes on long rides and has an ID bracelet from RoadID. If he is ever in an accident his phone could be smashed and the EMTs will see the bracelet.

[dochas]

My 11 year old bikes with a couple of friends to a school playground nearby. He has a Gizmo that I absolutely love. He asks me to pyt it on auto-answer in case he's riding when I call so he doesn't miss it LOL. From what I see of kids riding the neighborhood - large groups are less safe than small ones. Tho kids at the end of the line just follow what the front is doing without doung their own looking before crossing streets or changing sides. So I would remind them to not ride based on simeine else's decisions. Always look for hemselves!

[InBetweenDays]

DS (12.5) has been biking with his friends in our urban neighborhood for about 3 years now. I'd say the furthest they bike is school which is about 2.5 miles. We've never had a regular check in rule because they didn't have phones until recently and there were often times where they were at a park or somewhere away from parents for an hour or so.

We just really stressed following bike rules, being careful when crossing streets, watching for cars when crossing driveways or alleys, etc. And every once in awhile the parents would text each other saying "anyone seen the boys?"

[InBetweenDays]

Sept 2, 2021 20:13:16 GMT -5 dochas said:

My 11 year old bikes with a couple of friends to a school playground nearby. He has a Gizmo that I absolutely love. He asks me to pyt it on auto-answer in case he's riding when I call so he doesn't miss it LOL. From what I see of kids riding the neighborhood - large groups are less safe than small ones. Tho kids at the end of the line just follow what the front is doing without doung their own looking before crossing streets or changing sides. So I would remind them to not ride based on simeine else's decisions. Always look for hemselves!

DS' friend got hit this way. He was the last in a group of 4-5 that was crossing a small neighborhood grid street. The car was going slow so thankfully he was ok but scared everyone involved!

[redpenmama]

My 10- and 7-year-old have boundaries. Our street is long, so they can ride up our street to a friend's house and back. They have to stay together, and one clips a walkie talkie on their bike so they can check in. I am sure they could venture farther (we live in suburbia, so little traffic...), but I am a bit of a helicopter mom when it comes to things like this.

[twinmomma]

One of our biggest rules for neighborhood wandering is that they are not allowed to go into someone else's house. They can ride bikes and play outside, but no one goes in another person's house. Thankfully the other couple kids they go with have the same rule. We give them a curfew and they have a Gizmo watch that the three kids share.

We also have two zones they're allowed in - a smaller loop and a bigger loop. So we just let them know the expectations for which zone to ride in based on the day. Usually we tell them to stick to the smaller loop on days when they have less time just to make life easier for everyone. 

[aspentosh]

We have been letting DD do this with her friends, and she is one of the older ones at 9.5. As long as they stay in our neighborhood (no outlets so no through traffic and a lot of kids) I let her do her thing. I do like when she checks in, which she does, and that has been enough for me so far. I also set a timer on her watch (vivofit jr) so she knows when to make her way back home.

If they make their way to our house and are playing out back (we're not doing indoor stuff yet), then I'll often text the parents of the kids there to let them know. And some of the other parents do that as well.

[simpsongal]

We'll probably let DS (7) bike independently but nearby next year. We're biking with him now, and we'll make a judgment call based on his biking ability and common sense when he's ready. I think this stuff is often kid dependent.  ETA: our neighborhood was super flat growing up, we have some hills that not only make biking a challenge I want to make sure he understands blind spots w/cars and safety re: hills (and controlling speed).

Glad kids are wearing helmets - most of our neighbors don't make their kids wear them. Our kids abide but i'm sure it's only a matter of time before they put up a major protest since they're the only ones....

[ECB]

The honking part- the main thing that I saw the kids in our neighborhood do is congregate in the middle of the street and being totally unaware that a car was approaching and wanted to pass.  They got honked at more as a "hey- could you move so that I can pass?" thing.  As much as we - the parents - said "be aware of cars and move out of the way", they routinely were totally blind to this.  

[dochas]

Sept 3, 2021 0:18:56 GMT -5 InBetweenDays said:

Sept 2, 2021 20:13:16 GMT -5 dochas said:

My 11 year old bikes with a couple of friends to a school playground nearby. He has a Gizmo that I absolutely love. He asks me to pyt it on auto-answer in case he's riding when I call so he doesn't miss it LOL. From what I see of kids riding the neighborhood - large groups are less safe than small ones. Tho kids at the end of the line just follow what the front is doing without doung their own looking before crossing streets or changing sides. So I would remind them to not ride based on simeine else's decisions. Always look for hemselves!

DS' friend got hit this way. He was the last in a group of 4-5 that was crossing a small neighborhood grid street. The car was going slow so thankfully he was ok but scared everyone involved!

Thank God it was moving slow! It's terrifying to me to have him riding in the street, to be honest. 

[dochas]

Sept 3, 2021 8:09:38 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Glad kids are wearing helmets - most of our neighbors don't make their kids wear them. Our kids abide but i'm sure it's only a matter of time before they put up a major protest since they're the only ones....

When my son went to the park recently with 2 friends neither of the other kids were wearing a helmet. We had his yearly check up yesterday and his ped asked if he wears a helmet when biking. He gave her an enthusiastic yes so I was glad she asked. Our local PD sometimes "pulls kids over" on their bikes to give them a gift card for a free ice when they're wearing helmets. I love it and wish it would happen to him to help reinforce how right it is!

[imimahoney]

We bought our 9 yr old one of those watch phone things for this exact situation. I can see where he is or he can call if anything might come up.

We also live in a neighborhood outside if a fairly busy downtown area.

[soccermama]

Our kid has a Gizmo gadget, and that has been great for our family so he can communicate with us (and vice versa). Plus we can track him if we need to.

[expectantsteelerfan]

My kids both have a way to reach them if they leave our yard (ds phone, dd gizmo watch), and I've gone with them to a local park along the road for me to feel comfortable that they know how to behave on a road with traffic. So I give them specific boundaries in terms of streets/landmarks. For example, we are off a main road. From the main road, there is 1 road that ends in a cul de sac, and 2 roads off that that end in a cul de sac. My kids have to tell me if they are going biking in the neighborhood, and they are allowed on any 3 of those roads up till the main road. There is a park about 50 feet down the main road. They are allowed to go to the park too, but they have to specifically tell me if they are going to go there and then they aren't allowed further. I can track them on their devices to make sure they haven't gone beyond the boundaries. Other rules are they have to answer/respond if I call, and come home asap if I ask them, and then it's just a matter of saying be home by x time.

ETA we also have the 'no going inside neighbor's houses without permission from us' rule.  DD and the next door neighbor play in our yards a lot, and we do let them play inside if they ask first, but we also make sure they wear masks if they are going in.

[waverly]

Today, we drove along their bike path and then I also biked with them. They did really well, so I have a little more confidence, and they told me the ways the group behaved to be safe. One of the boys had a walk-in talkie and was checking in with his dad which made me feel better.