The number of cyclists killed or seriously injured (KSI) on Great Britain’s roads rose by 1 per cent during the year to March 2015, according to preliminary data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
However, the number of KSIs recorded during the first three months of this year registered a 14 per cent drop on the period January to March 2014, standing at 580.
Compared to the annual average for the period 2005-09, the year to March 2015 saw increases of 35 per cent for cycling KSIs and 31 per cent for all types of casualty, including slight injuries.
Across all classes of road user, the total number of fatalities in the 12 months to March fell 1 per cent in the year to March, and total injuries were down 2 per cent over the same period.
As the ONS points out, issues such as changes in the weather from year to year can make it difficult to compare different periods accurately, and while it does now provide figures for total distance travelled to give further insight into long-term trends, that does not include travel by bike.
The data have been made public on the same day that the ONS repeated Census figures – previously analysed in a separate release in March last year – that showed a 14 per cent increase from 2001-11 in the number of people aged 16-74 in England and Wales who commute mainly by bike.
By region, double-digit percentage increases were seen in the North East, Wales, and the South West, all of which recorded growth of between 10 and 20 per cent. Decreases were seen in the West Midlands, the East Midlands, Yorkshire & The Humber, and the East of England.
By far the biggest growth however was recorded among residents of Greater London, with the number of people living there who use a bike as their main means of travelling to work doubling during the decade to stand at 155,000.
That figure, however, would not only exclude London residents who use, for example, a train for most of their commute but ride a bike to or from the station, but also those who work in the capital but live outside it and use a bicycle for all or part of their commute.
It's becoming less of an issue over my lifetime but for some days each year without heating, it's not water, it's ice!
The underlying problem here is that organisations responsible for enforcing the law where big business is concerned have been nobbled, either by...
Dude, too agressive. Road.cc should have you banned. I agree Miller was a cheat and bad for our sport and should be pushed to the back of the stage...
Common sense at last
And tandems...
Car crashes into wall behind Natwest in Winchester https://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/24216676.photos-car-crashes-wa...
Standard driver responses - what a grim world view to go through life with, full of resentment and bitterness. ...
One way to find out is to put a member of the driver's family on the bike and ask them to repeat the manoeuvre.
This was in my local park and dogs are allowed off-lead. Cyclists are required to ride slowly and give due care and attention as it happens.
Something worth pointing out that's not mentioned in the article is with the Di2 buttons - the functions are not restricted to single presses, each...