Today, the Cobb Board of Commissioners meets at 9 a.m. at 100 Cherokee St. in Marietta to vote on whether or not it will be legal for kids under 12 to ride their bicycles on sidewalks in Cobb County. Personally, I didn’t even realize it was against the law to ride them on sidewalks to be honest.
A new law that went into affect on July 1st, 2009 allows local jurisdiction to decide whether to allow children to ride on sidewalks. It sounds like one of the main reasons that this is being pushed (for kids to be allowed to ride their bikes on the sidewalks) is for a health benefit.
State Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-east Cobb) goes on “We’re trying to encourage children to be more physically active, and biking is a great way for them to be,” she said. “This is a simple change, but hopefully it will encourage kids to be more active. And kids could even ride their bikes to school. Small steps like a person riding their bike when they’re young can have a positive effect on their health over a lifetime.”
I completely agree with Rep. Cooper – our kids today spend way to much time inside playing the Nintendo Wii and the Microsoft XBOX – they need to get outside and start playing sports again, riding their bikes and other things that we all did when we were kids.
