An article on the Mirror’s website claims that the number of pedestrians using mobile phones being killed or injured by cyclists in Great Britain “is soaring” – but provides no evidence in support.

The brief article – it runs to just 160 words – asserts that “‘Smartphone zombies’ who fail to look before crossing the road are believed to be responsible for a surge in accidents’.”

It cites government figures that show that during the past five years, 16 pedestrians have died as a result of collisions involving cyclists and 590 have been seriously injured.

It also highlights a rise in pedestrian casualties in collisions involving cyclists in the past year – one in which there was just one fatality.

But as the newspaper itself points out, the data – published by the Department for Transport and collated from STATS19 collision records compiled by police – does not state who is at fault.

Nor do the forms capture information relating to whether the victim may have been distracted by a mobile phone at the time.

Anecdotal evidence does suggest a growing road safety issue surrounding people stepping into the road without looking because they are engrossed by their smartphones.

And for anyone cycling in an urban environment, anticipating people distracted by their phones stepping out into your both has become an essential skill for riders.

Of course, other road users besides cyclists pose a far greater risk to pedestrians who walk into the road without looking – buses, lorries, cars, vans, and the growing numbers of scooter and motorbike riders in busy cities.

Again, distraction through smartphone use – whether by a pedestrian or, as regular court reports highlight, motorists – is not recorded as a factor in such collisions.

It is worth underlining, however, that from 2012-16, 2,120 some pedestrians were killed in road traffic incidents – with cyclists involved in less than 1 per cent of those.

The comparative rarity of collisions in which a pedestrian is killed or seriously injured is of course one reason why they tend to make the headlines.

Indeed, the Mirror highlights a recent court case in which cyclist Robert Hazeldean was found partly liable for injuries sustained by Gemma Brushett when they collided after she stepped out into the road in the City of London while looking at the screen of her mobile phone.

On the subject generally of collisions between pedestrians and cyclists, Duncan Dollimore, head of campaigns at Cycling UK, said: “Last year 456 pedestrians died on Britain’s roads, every one a tragedy. One of those involved a cyclist.

“This reflects the pattern for the last ten years where 99.4% of pedestrian deaths have resulted from a collision with a motor vehicle.

“Also, while it’s true the number of reported serious injuries to pedestrians from collisions with cyclists has been higher in the last two years, the DfT’s own reports explain that serious injury figures for the last two years aren’t comparable with earlier years.

“Nor do the DfT statistics apportion blame, so it’s inaccurate to imply that the cyclist was at fault in every case and the reality is that cyclists do little harm to other road users, including pedestrians,” he added.