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Comment by FabHK | Hacker News Reader

In Germany, we had cycling safety classes in primary school (and you got a badge at the end, yay!), so we could cycle to school (or anywhere else, really).

In many countries in Asia, kids with parents can just go to a restaurant (for example) and let the kids roam - everyone else (waiters, other patrons) will take care of the kids collectively.

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We had this in the US as well in elementary school. They had it every year, and I think all kids could participate (grades 1-6). It was a combination of safety instruction and some skills tests (riding in a figure 8, using turn signals properly etc.)

In Germany (at least in they cities that I have lived in) they have a "Vehrkerskindergarten" (Traffic Kindergarden)[1] in addition to the cycling classes. Basically its a miniature town (streets with traffic signs, traffic lights etc.) where kids go around in pedal cars and bikes. They are run by the Verkehrswacht and the local police. You also get a badge for completing this and the proud picture of your class will be published in the local paper.

[1] - http://www.shpol.ch/fileadmin/Redaktoren/Bilder/Verkehrsinst...

I remember this in the US also when I was in grade school. (Utah)

I do remember it was more for 2nd/3rd grade though.

Oh, cool! So, parents let kids cycle, but not take public transport? Is that it?

In Germany, public transport would be considered even somewhat safer than cycling (which has its risks, even with bicycle paths etc.), I'd think.

Elementary schools are usually within walking distance and not well served by public transport. In this case, biking is nice.

Public transport in most US cities is nearly unusable for the purpose of getting from most homes to most elementary schools. Downtown to the airport is usually viable, but can be a much worse experience than the average European might expect.

We had the cycling safety classes in second grade, but nobody stopped you from cycling to school before that. (And I did.)

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