A Vernon cycling consultant and educator is helping make cycling safer in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Bruce Mol worked with Peter Haidelmayer, a CAN-Bike safety skills national examiner in Toronto, to produce two handbooks, one for children and one for adults.
“Peter and I work well together and in no time at all we had the adult guide completed,” said Mol, who is also a filmmaker. “We knew we had to do something different for the children’s handbook. I knew that children learn best when they are culturally involved in a subject.”
He knew that parents and teachers often do not feel qualified to teach cycling safety and etiquette. His children’s guide suggests that children find a bike buddy, an experienced and knowledgeable cyclist who can help with their cycling skills. St. John’s is budgeting for cycling instructors and on-going training available through recreation centres. The city of 200,000 is working on long-term development of cycling routes.
The handbooks are available for download at www.bikestjohns.ca.
