Solved Exercise for Precis writing “Accidents by Cyclists: How to Avoid them” for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Motorists are all agreed that the cyclist is a menace on our roads. What has the cyclist got to say to that? Of course, the cyclist throws the blame for the high toll of accidents on the driver of the faster and more dangerous vehicles. The fact remains that the accidents in which cyclists are concerned have greatly increased in the last few years. The rise in the number of motor-cars on our roads has much to do with the increased casualty list, but we must seek a more detailed study of the subject if the problem is to come anywhere near solution.

Cyclists have little to fear if they conform with the traffic regulations and are able to ride their machines safely through the intricacies of modern traffic. A bicycle is a comparatively slow-moving vehicle and obviously on the highway many cars will pass it. This need not be a hazard if the cyclist proceeds in a straight line and keeps as far to the left of the road as possible. Many accidents have occurred because bicycle riders wobble from side to side and lurch into the paths of passing motor-cars. This wobbling may be due to inexperience, to riding a bicycle of unsuitable size, or to inattention. Cyclists are often guilty of riding in the wrong direction on one-way streets, weaving in and out of traffic, giving inadequate hand signals, ignoring traffic lights, making U-turns in the middle of a block, riding two and even three abreast and performing various other unsafe acts without the slightest heed for traffic laws or consideration for other users of the road.

The question is often asked: What is the suitable age for a child to commence cycling? A more important point is: When should a child be permitted to ride on busy roads? This is not an easy question to answer, because children vary so much in intelligence, physical strength and alertness.

What should, therefore, be impressed upon parents is that because a child proves a good and skillful rider on the playground and by-ways, it does not follow that he is competent to plunge into the turmoil of a main thoroughfare and face all the noise and speed of motor traffic calmly or do the right thing in an emergency.

The child’s bicycle can contribute considerably to the safety or otherwise of its rider. It is most important to see that the rider is correctly seated, so that he or she can reach the pedals comfortably without the slightest straining or stretching. If he has to stretch, then the child sways and wobbles, and has no proper control of the machine. There is likelihood, too, of injury to health. It is important also to see that the brakes work efficiently and that the machine steers and runs truly.

Parents are often guilty of purchasing or allowing their children to purchase seconds-hand bicycles which are fit for the scrap heap and not at all trustworthly vehicles for use on city highways. Others allow their children to ride even on busy thoroughfares without assuring themselves that the children are proficient enough to do so safely.

To save time on an errand, a boy is perhaps allowed to use his elder brother’s or even his father’s bicycle. The unwieldy machine and the hurry add to the chances of an accident. All these causes go to Increase the heavy accident toll on our streets and highway due to juvenile cyclists.

Bicycle riding is a clean and healthful sport and in our day is also a great convenience to school going children. However, traffic of this nature must be controlled

School authorities can help to control cyclists by following the plan that is being used in other countries to great advantage. Cycle patrols should be formed in every school consisting of experienced cyclists, whose privilege it shall be to train beginners in cycling and instruct them in the rules of the road. When the period of instruction is over, a teacher, appointed for the purpose, examines the candidates and grants a licence if the pupil passes the riding test and has sufficient knowledge of the Highway Code.

Each new pupil entering the school has to pass a written test on the Highway Code and show himself or herself to be a capable cyclist before a licence is granted. Careless or reckless riding is punished by ‘suspension’ or ‘endorsement of the licences.

Parents whose children do not pass the test are warned against allowing their children to ride on public streets and thoroughfares before they obtain a licence from the school authorities. Children in such schools soon learn to take a pride in being proficient cyclists and it needless to say how greatly such a scheme will help to solve the traffic problem in this country.

(800 words)

Precis

Title :- Accidents by Cyclists: How to Avoid them

It is a fact that accidents in which cyclists are involved have appreciably gone up in the last few years. For this motorists and cyclists throw blame on each other.

The fact that the cyclist has to face an increasing number of motor-cars moving to and fro-on the highway, should not expose him great risk, provided he keeps as far to the left of the road as possible, and otherwise too, conforms with the traffic regulations, which in most cases he does not.

It is difficult to say when a child should be permitted to ride on busy roads, for children vary so much in intelligence, physical prowess and alertness. It is one thing for the child to be skillful rider on the playground and the by-ways, and another how competent he is to face the hazards of riding through a busy thoroughfare.

The conditions of the child’s bicycle matter considerably in determining the safety or otherwise of the rider. The machines should be trustworthy vehicles and none too unwieldy and must suit his individual requirement.

It will go a long way in solving traffic problem in this country and minimizing accidents, if cycle patrols consisting of experienced cyclists are formed in every school, as in other countries, to train beginners in cycling and instruct them in the rules of the road. Licences should thereafter be granted only to those candidates who pass the riding test and acquire sufficient knowledge of the Highway Code. Unless a licence from the school authorities is thus obtained parents should ensure that their children do not ride on public streets and thoroughfares.

(270 words)