Good afternoon dear parents,

As the Essen police, it is important to us to inform you about how you can best prepare your child for behavior in road traffic. Unfortunately, the coronavirus has also put a spanner in the works in this area. Normally, we are in close contact with schools in particular to prepare children for road traffic. So that you can practise cycling with your children at home, we have prepared some practice and explanatory videos - have fun and a safe journey! 
It is particularly important to practice riding on the road, as children are no longer allowed to ride their bikes on the sidewalk from the age of 10, usually after completing fourth grade at the latest. Even if we have the feeling that the children are already very good and safe cyclists, the fact is that they lack experience on the road in hectic traffic.

In order to protect our children from harm, a roadworthy bicycle, a helmet and good visibility are the first prerequisites for participating in road traffic. It is also very important that children know the traffic rules, are able to ride their bikes properly and are aware of the dangers on the road, especially for cyclists.

This is particularly important in view of the fact that children mainly use bicycles as a means of transportation after elementary school and are therefore very often on the road.

In the 4th grade, the children are guests at the youth traffic schools in Essen or are visited by the mobile youth traffic school in Mülheim as part of the schools' cycling training. A wide variety of traffic situations (turning left, giving way, etc.) are practiced here.

The aim is for the children to be equipped for the various challenges in road traffic thanks to what they have learned and to master them unscathed.

Achieving this goal, however, is actually dependent on parents, as the most important and significant advisors and protectors of their children, actively participating in cycling training.

We would therefore advise you to talk to your children about the dangers and requirements of road traffic and to practise cycling on the road together.

Further information can be found at the Landesverkehrswacht NRW at:
www.verkehrswacht-medien-service.de

If you cannot use the video on your device or it does not play, please follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLowpyIYiqqRgObmB61mMi-CaQG5v3O8QM