Concerns raised over fewer Dutch kids learning to ride a bicycle

Children in the Netherlands increasingly grow up without learning to ride the bicycle, instead walking or being driven to school, according to traffic safety association VVN. Parents often find it too dangerous to send their kids to school on a bicycle, but not being able to cycle could be detrimental to children's development, VVN warns, RTL Nieuws reports.

Not being able to ride the bicycle means that children can sometimes not join school outings and are less likely to explore their neighborhood independently, according to VVN. This means that kids can't broaden their own horizons, the association said.

Participation in the practical Traffic Exam for children is also a problem if you don't know how to ride a bike, or have too little experience to pass the test. 90 percent of primary schools in the Netherlands participate in the theoretical part of the exam, and 80 percent in the practical part.

To find out exactly how big this problem is in the Netherlands, the VVN will launch a study into kids' bike riding abilities next year.