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news
broken bike.jpgNumber of cyclists killed on British roads up 40% in 2020
The number of cyclists killed on Great Britain’s roads rose by 40 per cent during 2020, according to figures released today by the Department for Transport (DfT). It attributes the rise to greater distances being cycled – but the charity Cycling UK believes poor driving is behind the increase.
Publishing Reported Road casualties Great Britain, provisional results: 2020, the department revealed that 140 cyclists lost their lives last year, compared to 100 in 2019.
Cycling UK believes that the increase is in line with a rise in reported poor behaviour by motorists – despite a reduction in total motor traffic during lockdown, a number of police forces highlighted an increase in ‘extreme speeding’ and other types of bad driving – and is urging the government to address that issue through the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill which is currently going through Parliament.
From the end of March onwards, after the first national lockdowns came into effect in England, Scotland and Wales, there was a huge rise in cycling, whether for permitted daily exercise or key workers switching from public transport to two wheels for their commute.
The DfT says there was a 46 per cent increase in the aggregate distance travelled by cyclists on Britain’s roads last year, meaning that “despite an increase in pedal cycle fatalities, there was a slight (4 per cent) reduction in fatality rates for pedal cyclists and a much larger reduction in the pedal cycle casualty rate of 34 per cent between 2019 and 2020 – as casualties did not increase by as much as cycle traffic.”
Total cycling casualties, including slight and serious injuries, fell slightly from 16,884 in 2019 to 16,380 during 2020, resulting in a 34 per cent reduction in casualty frates per billion kilometres cycled.
Cyclists were the only category of road user to see an increase in fatalities during 2020, which the DfT attributed to lower levels of motor traffic during lockdown.
In a separate release today examining the impact of lockdown on reported road casualties, the DfT said: “Pedal cyclist casualties of all severities fell by 8 per cent in 2020 compared to three-year average for 2017 to 2019. However, this reduction varied by severity. Serious and slight injuries fell by 1 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. However, the percentage of fatalities rose by 40 per cent.
“The change in pedal cyclist casualties also varied throughout the year. In August, September and December, there was an increase in casualties compared to the three-year average for 2017 to 2019.”
The DfT added: “This may be related to the travel restrictions imposed. For example, ‘people should aim to reduce the number of journeys they make where possible. If they need to travel, they should walk or cycle where possible, or plan ahead and avoid busy times and routes on public transport’.”
Duncan Dollimore, Cycling UK’s head of campaigns said: “Tragically, quieter roads during lockdown were taken advantage of by some drivers, with many police forces reporting an increase in speeding and dangerous driving.
“This has to be dealt with better by our legal system, which is why Cycling UK is calling on MPs to support amendments to the Police Crime and Sentencing Bill to fix the fatal flaws in our road traffic laws, including longer driving bans for those who put other road users at risk.”
The national cycling charity highlighted that it has produced a short report identifying what it terms “five fatal flaws which we want to see closed, which we believe the bill should address.” Those are:
- The underuse of driving disqualifications to protect the public from bad drivers.
- The ‘exceptional hardship’ loophole that keeps letting bad drivers who should be disqualified back on the road.
- ‘Hit and run’ sanctions that aren’t tough enough to stop drivers fleeing the scene of a collision when they know, or ought to know, that they’ve seriously hurt or killed someone.
- A belittling penalty for ‘car-dooring’, an offence that can leave victims dead or seriously injured.
- The confusing definitions of ‘careless’ and ‘dangerous’ driving.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- mdavidford 15 min 11 sec ago
Anyone ever seen them in the same place at the same time?
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Dont know why you didnt just send in a muted video if it was only your language that was incriminating. Did the or anyone else even hear you...
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Bravo! I'd love to know what modifications were made to it. I would hope going up huge hills means he had lower gear than standard.
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We might equally pertinently ask: does this stuff come with less rubbish/trash/litter/landfill/etc. than an equivalent product that comes in...
- brooksby 56 min 12 sec ago
I think that they are 'access' or 'deliveries only'. Seems weird that these people appear to think that cyclists are a death-causing menace...
- Paul J 1 hour 18 min ago
Where do you get those numbers? I have their Power Shield Pro and Power Shield RPM pages open here now and I read this, C&Ping from the pages...
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Much better than what I was trying to concoct.
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Was it you that stole my bike?...
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38 comments
This is so true Captain! All you have to do is go on social media, find a police force post on their close pass initiative and what starts with irrelevant whataboutery quickly descends into toxic, bigoted and threatening views towards cyclists (as well as the abundance of anti-cycling bingo).
There needs to be a sharp change in culture to improve the situation. Proper enforcement, national educational campaigns are a couple of ways to help improve the situation, but it will take many more and a long time overall for the improvements to be noticeable.
You mean like:
??
One person wrote under the initial post: "Cyclists are a law unto themselves. @SurreyRoadCops shame on you for promoting this
Prosecutions and points are the only way. Appealing to the better nature of people like these soon comes up against the obvious flaw...our problem is that the police are intent on the 'no prosecutions and no points without a lot of blood on the road' program
We don't need segregation. Indeed it just can't happen. How the hell do you stick a cycle lane on every single track road? A mix of carrot and stick is needed. Slap a minimum of 10K on as a speeding fine. Straight away you could fund policing, maybe even specialised people with no other job. Use equal or stricter punishments for any proved driving offence. This could also fund mandatory cycle awareness training for all new and comercial drivers.
No you can't put cycle lanes on single track roads. What's your point? I'm not sure this contributes anything useful to the debate.
I totally agree. There would be no need for infrastructure if drivers behaved with an ounce of respect or dignity. On top of that, if they thought there was a real chance of not being able to drive following an incident, they might just think about how they actually drive. There's little or no chance of a bad driver being caught, and if they are actually caught, the sentences are so derisory, there is no deterrent.
More effective enforcement? Couldn't agree more. Wait - what's that? We can't have segregated cycling infra because it won't work in the countryside? I must be dreaming then:
https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/tag/country-side/
Actually this is a common view - even among cyclists. Particularly those cyclists who somehow manage to get out in the countryside despite all the single-track / fast country lanes. I'm pleased these hardy types can recognise the importance of "does it feel safe?" for others!
"Segregated" doesn't mean every single road must be. It's just like how roads can "work" even though not every one is is a motorway - or two-way, or even paved. Most journeys (by any mode of transport) are relatively short - from where people are (mostly villages, towns and cities) to where other people are. For the countryside the questions are likely "what are the projected numbers who would want to use this route?" Enabling cycling in the countryside is important and we certainly want safe recreational routes too (here, here). Currently though it's likely many long country roads would only be used by the "fit and the brave" anyway. So they can be tackled second.
As for improving driving instead I refer you:
https://cyclingfallacies.com/en/16/higher-standards-of-driving-would-make-cycling-safe
They don't yet have one covering "but countryside" or "totally useless until it exists on every road" belief but the "cost" one may be of interest:
https://cyclingfallacies.com/en/23/it%E2%80%99s-too-expensive-to-provide-for-cycling
Yep, I agree with this. I've had a lot of close passes in the last 12 months while riding here or there. Segregated cycling facilities are all very well, but in a big city like London, these aren't always possible. So many drivers are really impatient.
I was driving my car along the South Circular a while back, keeping my distance behind two cyclists as they trundeld along, as it was too narrow and unsafe to overtake. The driver behind got really irate and beeped his horn, finally overtaking as soon as the other side of the road was clear. I let him do this, preferring to have the idiot in front rather than behind, and then I overtook the cyclists. About 200m later I pulled to a halt behind the irate driver who was stuck in queue of traffic at the next set of lights, which I'd known would be there all along. As we waited, the two cyclists trundled past again, as I knew they would.
The thing is, too many drivers have the Must Overtake mentality, without being able to look ahead and realise that their overtake may well be utterly pointless, not to say dangerous. Speeding is becoming recognised for the danger it poses to all, in much the same way that drink driving was 30-40 years ago. But there also needs to be progress on tackling distracted driving. Be honest, how many drivers have you seen using their phones while at the wheel in the last week? Data shows hands free kits are no safer too as the distraction is mental not physical. Using a cellphone while driving should be an offence worth 12 points on the licence and a 12 month ban, just like drink driving. people won't take notice until they start losing their licences.
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