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Last Updated: Wednesday June 17 2009 15:52 GMT

Is it safe to cycle where you live?

Boy on bike

It's National Cycle Week, and people everywhere are being encouraged to get on their bikes!

But would you feel safe on the roads near where you live?

Are there enough cycle lanes? Is the traffic too busy?

Does your school offer cycle safety lessons? What would you do to make things better for cyclists?

Or maybe your town is great for bikes, and you want to say why?

Whatever your thoughts, let us know!

Your comments

"Where I live there are no bike lanes or anything! I get nervous driving on the road."

Catherine, 12, Ireland

"Our area is very safe to ride a bike! There are bike lanes and schools in our area are having days called Bring A Bike To School Day!!"

Faeqa, 11, London, England

"I don't go out on my bike regularly. My village is a 30mph zone but we get people who speed so I have to be careful. I only go out on my bike with my dad or family friends. We have some country roads, which are mostly quiet so it is reasonably safe."

Asha, 11, Lincoln, England

"It isn't very safe to cycle around my area as it doesn't have proper facilities to ride around."

Shanzii, 13, Torquay, England

"I think it is safe to cycle by yourself anywhere as long as you have done your cycling proficiency test first."

Eleanor, 12, Hertfordshire, England

"We think it's not safe to ride your bike because we live near main roads so there's loads of cars coming. Not too long ago a boy was on his bike and got hit by a lorry and got sent to hospital. He luckily survived only because of our well trained doctors and nurses."

Ryan and Laura, 10, Kent, England

"It isn't safe for me to cycle where I live because I live on a main road. You should always cycle in a field or somewhere you know that cars cannot get to you."

Tiegan, 10, Kent, England

"Yes it's safe to cycle where I live because a lot of people are around and there aren't many cars on the road, plus people help you if you fall off your bike."

Stacey, 10, Kent, England

"It's safe to cycle in some places but it depends on whether you have done cycling training and where exactly you are going. In general it's pretty safe."

Annie, 12, Basingstoke, England

"I think that it is fairly safe to cycle where I live as long as we stick to the cycle paths and wear a helmet."

Ella, 11, Bristol, England

"Well whether cycling is safe kind of depends how your neighbourhood is. If you think your neighbourhood is safe then I see no problem."

Mariam, 11, London, England

"My town is very safe because it has speed bumps. I think the law should be 'don't ride on the road if you have not passed your cycle proficiency'."

Jack, 10, Scotland

"I think that more schools should do cycling lessons for the ones that have bikes."

Sarah, 11, Birmingham, England

"I think you should only ride your bike if all features on it like tyres and brakes work."

Rian, 11, Walsall, England

"Cars go very fast around the place, so if kids are very careful crossing the roads, I think cycling is safe."

Alisha, 10, Belfast, Northern Ireland

"It's safe to cycle where I live because my road never has cars on it and I live near a car-free park. But I wear a helmet just in case."

Hager, 10, Surrey, England

"We think when you cycle you should have safety helmets and you should ride on the safety road."

Dojin and Cale, 10, New Zealand

"I think children should be encouraged to ride to school or ride around. Where I live is near a main road but there are many other ways to get to places on my bike without the main road. Also I think it is perfectly safe if you are sensible and are riding with a group of friends."

Kate, 10, Doncaster, England

"It is safe to cycle to school with a grown up."

Millie, 6, Surrey, England

"I think it's safe to cycle, just don't go near cars and always ride with a parent."

Lilian, 8, Ipswich, England

"There are a few cycle lanes, so it is quite safe to cycle. My mum is a cycle instructor, so she goes to all the schools in the county Durham area to teach the children how to cycle safely on the street. The local council pays for children to learn."

Mia, 8, Durham, England

"It is pretty safe for cycling where I live but there are not many places you can bike ride."

Michaela, 11, Newcastle, England

"Not really, there are a lot of main roads where I live"

Niraz, 12, Edinburgh, Scotland

"I live in a village so it it really safe."

Jake, 10, Peterborough, England

"Yes, my town is great for bikes! I live in a small, quiet village where everybody knows everybody. The entire village knows when someone new is coming and we have village welcoming parties! No one comes by, the roads are all dirt and half of the people here don't even own cars!"

Ellie, 13, England

"Definitely!!!! Oxford is the place where people respect people who have bikes and drivers are very careful when there is a cyclist in front of them."

Sindurii, 11, Oxfordshire, England

"I think that it is safe as long as you don't ride on the roads and don't go near to anyone you don't know."

Rosalie, 11, London, England

"It is quite safe where I live. But there is one problem - we are not allowed to cycle to school! I would like to cycle to school because it would keep me nice and fit!!!"

Chloe, 11, Walsall, England

"I don't think it's safe to cycle to school because my school is on a main road and it gets quite busy and people are always speeding! I think if they want us to cycle to school they should make cycle tracks for us to ride along."

Laura, 12, Essex, England

"I don't normally cycle on roads, but I think that the roads are quite safe because there are lots of cyclists on the roads."

Jasmine, 13, UK

"I go to boarding school and my school is in the middle of nowhere so it is quite safe to cycle. On weekends, we often go on class cycling trips if we are good and it's really fun!"

Mark, 9, Chester, England

"No, because there's not a cycle path around and there are a lot of hoodies and graffiti on the walls."

Bethany, 8, Kent, England

"Children should be given more freedom and learn cycling safety early on so they can cycle unsupervised with their friends. Although children under the age of 10 should be supervised."

Josh, 12, Dunbartonshire, Scotland

"On my street, not many cars drive down it so I can easily ride on my mountain bike down the paths safely."

Riordan, 12, Cambridgeshire, England

"As far as I know, yes. But you can never be too sure and I think that it doesn't matter where you are and if it's safe or not, if you're under 10 or 11 you should have an adult with you when you're cycling."

Katie, 11, England

"I feel safe on the roads because where I live it's really quiet. It's great fun to cycle and I hope other people do it more!"

Selina, 10, Stirling, England

"I think it's safe. I cycle to school everyday on the roads. But I think you should always have adult supervision in case an accident happens."

Spaghetti Girl, 12, Wales

"I think it is safe, now I have done my cycling test in primary school."

Hope, 12, Northern Ireland

"I have passed my cycle proficiency test and I do feel safe on the roads, but not all children cycle on the roads properly so make sure you complete the test before cycling on the road alone."

Sophie, 10, Oxfordshire, England

"I live in the countryside so it's safe, but I think that you should be under adult supervision. I cycle around my village with my friends!!"

Angharad, 10, Dorchester, England

"I think it is safe to cycle near where you live but not to go too far, even if you're still on your street."

Moath, 9, Manchester, England

"I think it is really safe where I ride my bike as there are no roads so there aren't any cars, which means I don't have to worry about crashing or getting injured."

Umar, 13, Bradford, England

"I feel fine when I'm on my bike because there's just about no traffic where I live."

Tom, 13, Northumberland, England

"Yes it is safe, there are lots of paths."

Aimee, 9, England

"Yes it's safe. All you need to do is be with an adult or listen to the rules eg look right, then left and look again."

Mollie, 11, Liverpool, England

"Yes, it is really quiet until you get near the supermarket. I've nearly been ran over a few times as drivers just put their foot down when they see someone crossing a zebra crossing! I have a country park near my house so we usually go there."

Ellie, 12, Essex, England

"You should ALWAYS wear your helmet! It's not really safe where I live because there are sharp bends and you could get knocked over really easily. I'm happy though because I can just cycle around my house because I have a reasonable space to cycle around."

Lois, 11, Northern Ireland

"We should all wear our helmets because you could die or get serious injuries for the rest of your life without it."

Jack, 12, Manchester, England

"It is not safe at a night time because of all the boys racing in their cars."

Callum, 13, Greater Manchester, England

"We think that it is safe to cycle around our area as there are not many cars. It is important to stay with an adult or make sure you have safety lessons."

Primary 3, aged 7-8, South Lanarkshire, Scotland

"I think it is safe to cycle around your area as long as you are under adult supervision and don't cycle on the roads just on the pavement. Although that depends on how old you are."

Chloe, 10, London, England

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