Tips for starting school

To ensure that the journey to school is safe for young road users, the Arbö recommends that students who use scooters and bicycles adhere to certain conditions: scooters and skateboards, longboards and kickboards may only be ridden on the sidewalk, in pedestrian zones, play streets or residential streets and only at walking pace. Children under the age of eight require a supervisor who is at least 16 years old.

E-scooter and bicycle

The same rules apply to e-scooters as to bicycles. Electrically powered scooters are only intended for use on the cycle path, multi-purpose lane or road. If a cycle path is available, it must always be used. Only children aged twelve and over or children who are at least nine years old and have a bicycle permit are allowed to ride e-scooters. Children under twelve must wear a helmet. Riding in pairs is prohibited.

Lighting on e-scooters

In the dark, a white light must be switched on at the front and a red light at the rear. Like a bicycle, an e-scooter must have an effective braking device, reflectors or reflective foils (white at the front, red at the rear, yellow at the side), a bell, a white light facing forward and a red rear light.

Carrying a school bag correctly

The school bag should always be carried on the back and over both shoulders. The riding behavior changes with additional weight – this should be practiced in advance.

Carrying the bag correctly is important not only for balance reasons, but also from a health perspective. According to Primar Reinhold Ortmaier, head of the orthopedics department at the Ordensklinikum in Linz, leaving the straps very long or carrying the bag on one side does not lead to a deformation of the spine, but it is also not conducive to a natural posture: “Before any subsequent damage occurs, muscle tension and pain first appear.” Therefore, “the school bag should end at the shoulder. “Heavy objects belong in the school bag, lighter things on the outside so that the weight is evenly distributed,” says Ortmaier.