A complicating factor in helping people develop those basic skills and knowledge is the wide range of ages involved and the need to tailor the message and approach to each one. For example, youngsters in the elementary grades need different kinds of information than do adults in college. They ride in different environments at (typically) different times and suffer from different types of crash problems. In addition, while effectively reaching youngsters must also involve reaching their parents to reinforce the messages, college students probably could care less about their parents' safety ideas. On the other hand, it is often easier to reach elementary grade youngsters than adults.
In this light, a community strategy for implementing bicyclist education and raising awareness must be broad-based and multifaceted. It should include the following:
Local bicyclist education programs often face serious challenges. Programs directed at youngsters must compete with other interests and school curriculum priorities; but at least they can provide widespread coverage. In so doing, however, program goals must often be compromised in the face of teachers' and administrators' constraints.
Programs aimed at adults, while often consisting of intensive on-bike training typically reach only those interested in learning about bicycling. Since there is seldom a way to reliably capture an adult audience, those who most need the training may not be reachable.
Motorist-oriented programs typically reach their intended audience only at specific points. Examples include driver training courses, driver's licensing exams, and remedial courses for violators. In a particular driver's career, these opportunities might occur only once every few years.
And awareness campaigns must compete with all other message sources for the audience's attention. It is well-known, for example, that Americans are barraged by hundreds of messages per day through television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and other sources. In such an environment, only the best will likely get through.
Despite these challenges, well-conceived programs created by coalitions of local groups and agencies can make a difference. In some communities, for example, cycling instructors have shown school administrations how bicyclist training can help them accomplish more general instructional objectives. In others, cycling groups in cooperation with local media, have put together extensive public service programs. And in yet other communities, local bicycle coordinators have succeeded in getting bicycle-related materials and presentations into the drivers' education classes.