Cyclists manoeuvring in tight spaces alongside heavy flows of traffic can be faced with an impending pothole and as a result, have to swerve, suddenly brake and unfortunately may lose control. Such an obstacle may in extreme circumstances cause a collision with vehicles and injuries can be very serious. The significant difference between surface area on a bike tyre and on a car tyre means that a cyclist cannot with confidence proceed over a pothole without causing damage to the tyre.
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Cycling can be a healthy and fun activity for all ages, although ensuring the safety of our children is as important as the any of the health benefits that are advertised. Minister for Cycling, Robert Goodwill confirmed plans for a national spend of over £375 million over the next five years and national charity Get Britain Cycling wants to see 10% of all trips to be made by bicycle by 2025. It is important however that as participation in cycling increases that the safety of our children remains paramount. Despite the £375 million budget recently set by this government, it is highly unlikely that Britain’s roads will be greatly improved or will be more welcoming to cyclists. Whilst we may not have the sophisticated transport infrastructure of countries such as the Netherlands, it is possible to educate our children to minimise the risks to them. Now is the time to ensure that our generation of children are aware of cycling safety and have a working knowledge of the basic rules of the road. For example, does your child know that it is illegal for a cyclist to use a pavement that is by a road but may be perfectly legal to use a pavement in a park? With Britain’s children inspired by the triumphs of Olympians such as Chris Hoy and Bradley Wiggins the efforts of organisations such as Bikeability should be publicised. Wearing a hat and being fully aware of the vehicular traffic can improve road safety immensely and make Get Britain Cycling’s hopes of increased participation a realistic goal. A bicycle is an investment into a child’s lifestyle – a life long hobby which can also bring health and other social benefits. Let’s make the safety of our child cyclists the main priority in the ongoing cycling...
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In 2011 HGVs amounted to only 4% of the traffic on London’s roads yet were involved in 53% of all cycle fatalities. The relative size of bicycles compared to HGVs means the potential for serious injury and loss of life in a collision between the two is significant. Transport for London calculated that a cyclist is 78 times more likely to be killed in an accident involving a HGV than one involving a car. HGVs seem to pose an ever increasing risk to the nation’s cyclists.
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On September 2nd 2013, MPs met to debate the subject of cycling. Organised by Dr Julian Huppert, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Cycling Group, it was designed to propose that Parliament formally welcomes the recommendations of the Group’s“Get Britain Cycling” campaign. Although Dr Huppert and other MPs claimed that the debate was extremely well-attended, the number of empty seats in the chamber suggested otherwise. Nevertheless, it was still a very important milestone for the campaign and cycling as a whole. In his opening address, Dr Huppert set out the key recommendations of the report. The All Party Group wanted to see the number of trips made by bike in the UK rise from 2% to 10% by 2025 and then again to 25% by 2050. He claimed this would be entirely possible and is still well below what the Dutch achieve. Funding was also a big issue in the debate, with the Group recommending that it is set initially at £10 per person, hopefully rising to £20 in the future. Also included in the report were requests to reduce traffic speeds in residential areas to 20mph, making Bikeability training available at all schools and making roads and cities across the country fit for cycling. Following on from Dr Huppert, Ian Austin started his address by calling for tougher sentences to be handed down to drivers who kill or injure cyclists. Mr Austin, who is the other co-chair of the Group, provoked outrage within the chamber when he read out the sentence given to the HGV driver convicted of seriously injuring Times journalist Mary Bowers. One MP could be heard describing the sentence as “disgraceful. Mr Austin then attacked the Government’s apparent commitment to turning Britain into a cycling nation, stating that out of a highways budget of £15bn, only £159m is spent on cycling. He pointed out that the Department of Health was only planning to commit £1m to cycling out of a budget of £1bn and also the fact that there was no dedicated funding stream, meaning local councils would not be able to plan ahead for more than 2 years. Boris Johnson was widely praised throughout the debate for his efforts to promote cycling in the capital....
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The Government’s decision not to install a National Cycling Champion is seen by some a missed opportunity. Although it is true that all relevant Ministers have a responsibility to make sure that cycling is promoted, the existence of a cycling ambassador with no links to a political party was seen by many as desirable. A way to ensure that the needs of cyclists are met and that improvements are achieved, without the individual being accused of political bias. The idea of a Cycling Champion was floated by the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group as part of its ‘Get Britain Cycling’ report. Ian Austin MP, co-chair of the APPCG, believes that it is important to have somebody to raise the profile of cycling and to get everybody working together in order to achieve this. “I think anything which would give prominence to issues relating to cycling safety and to encourage people to cycle would be a good thing,” he said. “I also think that cycling is not just about the Department of Transport, but local councils, and other government departments such as the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice, the department for Education and the NHS. You need someone with authority and clout to get them all working together.” The role would potentially mirror that of Andrew Gilligan who was appointed Cycling Commissioner for the Greater London Authority. Gilligan has been widely praised in his efforts in this role, which involves overseeing the development of Transport for London’s cycling policy, whilst also acting as an advocate for cycling in the capital. There have been a few names mentioned as potential candidates for the position, most notable Sir Chris Hoy and Chris Boardman. Either one of these legends would be an ideal choice. Their entire focus in this role would be to look after the needs of cyclists. It would also enable cycle users to feel confident that they will be listened to, rather than feeling sceptical about a politician’s true motives. A figurehead from the world of sport would be an ideal way to capitalise on the impact the Olympics and Tour De France had on the British Public. Sir Chris himself states that “we are at the peak...
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311 children were seriously injured whilst riding their bikes on Britain’s roads in 2012, according to statistics obtained from the Department of Transport. This represents a fall of 21% on the previous year. Although this is an encouraging statistic, more alarming is that the amount of children killed whilst on their bikes rose sharply to 13. This is a massive 117% increase on 2011. Any accident involving the death of a child is tragic, but for the numbers to dramatically increase in that way is truly shocking. It is clear that more needs to be done to improve road safety for children. The THINK! road safety website have published a set of guidelines and advice to keep children safe on their bikes: Make sure your brakes and tyres should be working well. Make sure your front and back lights work well and your back reflector is clean If you have to carry anything on your cycle, use a bike bag or basket Make sure you don’t wear any loose clothing so that nothing can get caught in the wheels Always wear cycle helmet that is the correct size and securely fastened Wear light coloured or fluorescent clothing in daylight and at dusk, wear something reflective at night Do not ride a bike that is too big or small as your balance may become affected Do not cycle at night without a white front light, a red back light and a red reflector at the back Make sure that you can always see and hear well Additionally, the Department for Transport has developed the Bikeability scheme, designed to give children the skills and confidence to cycle in modern road conditions. For further information, you can visit the Bikeability website on http://www.dft.gov.uk/bikeability. As a nation, we are cycling more and more and it is important that road safety remains a high priority. Education is vital so that every cyclist is given the information they need to keep them safe. If the appropriate resources are used properly it can help reduce the number of lives that are tragically ended way before their time. Expert legal advice and exceptional client care: The specialist cycle team at Macks have significant experience and expertise...
Read MoreCyclist’s Accident Card
This card will serve as a guide for what information an injured cyclist should take note of when they have been involved in a cycling accident and will allow them to contact us for expert independent legal advice.
Download a wallet-size version of our Cyclist Accident Report Card in PDF format.
