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https://reasonstobecheerful.world/kids-in-france-are-pedaling-toward-two-wheeled-equality/>
"On a scorching hot afternoon in northeast Paris, the playground at Robert
Doisneau elementary school is in the process of rolling out an entirely new
part of the curriculum for its students: learning how to cycle.
Dozens of kids wearing bright yellow and black helmets and fluorescent safety
vests are pedaling around on bicycles, circumnavigating a network of colored
cones and signs on the concrete that are intended to represent real-life roads
and junctions.
“Slowly, slowly, careful,” shouts Cédric le Naour, as one cluster of energetic
cyclists nearly speeds straight past a red STOP sign and into a line of other
riders. “You have to brake here. They have the priority. Didn’t you look at the
sign?”
Le Naour is one of four cycling trainers working in Seine-Saint-Denis, a suburb
of the French capital, as part of an ambitious national scheme to teach the
next generation of young people in France the tools to safely navigate the
streets on two wheels, in turn encouraging them to live healthier, more
independent and lower-carbon lives.
Launched in 2019, the 10-week program, known as Savoir Rouler à Vélo (Know How
to Bike), aims to gradually scale up its capacity for training school kids aged
six to 11 in “cycling readiness” until reaching the goal of about 850,000
pupils per year in 2027."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
