My View: Why it's better to be safe than sorry on the road through life

The children, aged five and eight, are a similar age to my children and it got me thinking about if and when I would allow my children to cycle to school.

While I applaud parents for teaching their children independence and self-reliance, I have to say that the thought of my five-year-old cycling anywhere close to a main road without me poised to dive in, sends shivers down my spine. She can cycle, just, without stabilisers, but like most children her age she is so easily distracted that a passing butterfly would take her mind off the task at hand.

Then there is the responsibility for the older sibling if something were to go wrong.

The couple in question, the Schonrocks, say they wanted to recreate for their children the simple freedom of their own childhood. While I remember fondly cycling off on country lanes alone at the age of eight, the world is a different place. There are more cars, buses and lorries on the road and everyone seems in so much more of a rush that you cannot help but fear that children are more at risk than in our day and age.

A few of us in our village had a meeting with the chap from the Highways Agency Road Safety department in an attempt to get a footpath built between our village and the adjoining one where the primary school, church, shop and pub are located.

The aim is to allow us to walk our children to school without the fear of being mown down by motorists.

While sympathetic with our plight, we were warned there was no budget. But, more interestingly, I mentioned that it would be my ideal, when my children are a bit older, to allow them to cycle to school.

The man from the Highways Agency answered immediately saying he wouldn't allow his children to cycle to school on that route.

But when is it the right time to let your children loose and allow them to discover the risks for themselves?

The Schonrocks have been supported by many for

their stance. They say they have researched the route and are happy that their children are of an age and development where they can safely cycle the one mile

to school.

I think that is the key. You have to make a

judgment on an individual basis. I know my five-year-old is way off being able to take that next step to independence, but in the right circumstances, my seven-year-old may be. You cannot

wrap them in cotton wool forever; the key is

to get the timing right and stick to it. But personally speaking, I am not yet ready to take that leap of faith.