DfT

Transport Minister Sadiq Khan was yesterday presented with a petition signed by 9,000 women urging him to make Britain’s roads safer to cycle on, including through the provision of segregated bike lanes.

The number of 20mph zones on Britain’s roads is set to increase after the government announced plans to make it easier for councils to implement lower speed limits in a move designed to reduce casualties among cyclists and pedestrians.

Bike riders tearing through red lights, wearing dark clothing or riding at night without lights are to blame for less than 7% of accidents that result in a cyclist being seriously injured, according to research commissioned by the Department for Transport.

Ten per cent of the children killed on Britain's roads last year died while cycling it has been revealed in answer to a parliamentary question.

The Driver Standards Agency is planning a new TV advertisement “specifically featuring a cyclist as someone who needs to refer to the Highway Code” it was announced yesterday in Parliament. A statement which was then contradicted by spokesman for the Driver Standards Agency who told road.cc today that the advertisement does not focus on cyclists that it is targeted at all road users under the slogan “The Highway Code-for life, not just for learners”.

Like using a helmet or jumping red lights, the issue of wearing headphones while riding is one that divides cyclists, prompting heated discussion from those in favour and those against listening to music while on their bikes whenever the issue is raised.

The Department for Transport and Cycling England have announced that the level of cycle traffic in the country’s first six Cycling Demonstration Towns has risen by more than a quarter over the last three years.

Joe Mizereck, whose website www.3feetplease.com has been one of the driving forces behind getting a three-foot minimum distance passed into law in 14 states in the US, has thrown his weight behind UK cyclists campaigning for Britain to adopt the more generous minimum passing distance of 1.5 metres which applies in a number of other EU states.

Transport Minister Sadiq Khan has announced the recipients of the final tranche of the government’s £60 million cycling budget for the current year. England’s Cycling Demonstration Towns, the Peak District National Park, and Sustrans, the sustainable transport charity, are each set to get a share of the £10 million available. The cash will finance new routes, as well as other features such as parking facilities.

Preliminary data released by the Department for Transport yesterday suggest that the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured on Britain’s roads is on the rise, growing by 19% to reach 820 in the quarter ended June 2009 against the comparable period in 2008.