Every primary school pupil in Edinburgh will receive lessons in safer cycling for the first time, when responsibility for lessons transfers from the police to the city council.
Currently only 30% of the city's schools use training provided by Lothian and Borders Police.
It has now been agreed that cycling lessons will be provided by the council, leaving police free to concentrate on other road safety initiatives. As a result, all 3600 P6 pupils will now learn the practicalities of cycling on city roads, speed limits and stopping distances.
Ian Maxwell, spokesman for the cycling campaign group Spokes, said: "We have been pushing for this for years. It is absolutely vital that all kids get the chance to learn how to ride their bikes both in the playground and in a controlled road scenario.
"There are generations of people in the city who have received no formal cycling training at all. This way we will be able to improve both safety and hopefully the behaviour of some cyclists."
