A new police campaign focused on cycling and motorcycling, which claims that road safety is a “shared” responsibility, has been criticised by cyclists who say it “ignores the massive imbalance in risks” faced by vulnerable road users.
The ‘Two Wheels’ campaign, led by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), takes place every June and aims to educate, reduce risk, and improve safety for motorcyclists and cyclists on the roads.
According to the NPCC, the campaign “aims not only to encourage riders to make safer choices, but also to remind other drivers of their responsibility to remain vigilant and look out for more vulnerable road users”.
“Every person using the road network, whether behind the wheel, on two wheels, or on foot, has a critical role to play in preventing life-changing and fatal collisions,” the police chiefs’ council said in a statement announcing this year’s campaign.
As part of the campaign, motorists are urged to look twice and “expect to see” cyclists and motorcyclists, especially at junctions and roundabouts, give vulnerable road users space when overtaking, and exercise patience on rural roads.
The NPCC has also called on motorcyclists to remember to carry out pre-ride safety checks, ride to road and weather conditions, and wear appropriate protective gear at all times, while encouraging them to attend a seven-and-a-half hour ‘safe rider’ workshop.
Finally, cyclists, described by the NPCC as “equally exposed”, are encouraged to “remain highly visible, predictable in their movements, and aware of changing road conditions, particularly on rural routes shared with faster-moving traffic”.
In response to the ongoing campaign, a number of local police forces have launched their own initiatives, including in Herefordshire, where West Mercia Police are carrying out targeted patrols and engagement to “encourage safe, responsible riding and driving”.
West Mercia Police says the patrols will aim to educate riders on “skills, knowledge, and protective equipment, promote awareness of the Highway Code and road user hierarchy, and remind everyone to share the road safely”.
However, in Hereford, the local safe neighbourhood team have taken advantage of the campaign to clamp down on cyclists riding on the city’s Victoria Bridge, designated a ‘no cycling’ zone.
On Thursday morning, over 30 cyclists were stopped and spoken to by officers and reminded to dismount and walk their bikes across the bridge.
The South Wye team also explained that “advice was given around the reasons for the restriction and the consequences of not following it”.
“We’re here to keep everyone safe – whether you’re walking, cycling, riding, or driving,” they said.
Meanwhile, in Suffolk and Norfolk, the police have called on road users to take heed of the NPCC’s message that “road safety is the responsibility of every one of us”.
“We’ve spoken a lot in recent weeks about bike safety and will continue to do so whilst bikers and cyclists are being killed and seriously injured on our roads,” Chief Inspector Gary Miller, the head of the Joint Norfolk and Suffolk Roads and Armed Policing Team, said in a statement supporting the Two Wheels campaign.
“Every road user has a responsibility to travel with care and remain alert to others around them. Our rural road network brings its own challenges, with narrow lanes, bends, dips and limited visibility from hedgerows and other features.
“You can also expect to encounter slower-moving traffic such as agricultural vehicles, cyclists, horse riders, and pedestrians, all of which require patience and awareness.
“As a motorcyclist and cyclist myself, I know how the enjoyment and risks of being on two wheels. Keeping our roads safe is a shared duty.
“We need motorists to drive with care, actively look out for motorcyclists and cyclists, and give them the space they need. They have just as much right to get home safely as anyone else.”
However, cycling campaigners in Suffolk have criticised the NPCC’s initiative, describing it as “well-intentioned but poorly thought-through”.
“Whilst we can all agree that everyone has a responsibility for safety, this ignores the massive imbalance in risks imposed on other road users,” Ipswich-based activist Leo Borwick told the East Anglian Daily Times this week.
“Car drivers kill around five people every day in Britain and seriously injure dozens of others. Cyclists, by contrast, hardly ever kill anybody else.”
Recalling a recent close pass in Ipswich, Borwick emphasised that imbalance between motorists and cyclists when it comes to risk and fear on busy roads.
“I was entering a narrowed section of Wherstead Road when a builder’s truck passed me at speed, certainly above the limit,” he said.
“The gap between me and the truck could not have been more than about six inches. I was frightened and shaken and could not escape the feeling it was done deliberately to intimidate me.”
Another cyclist, Wetherden resident Keith Wolferstan, also criticised some drivers’ attitude towards cyclists, after a recent collision with a motorist left him with two broken arms and broken ribs.
“People just seem to be so angry with cyclists all the time, any excuse to cut them up and they’ll take it,” he said. “I can think of so many times where I could have died, just because of an impatient driver.”
Recounting another incident during a group ride, Wolferstan continued: “We were going past the golf course at Stowmarket when a [driver] overtook us with a really close pass.
“His passenger threw a cup of McDonald’s Coke out the window at the front riders, totally unprovoked. How dare we be on his road and hold him up for two seconds.
“I’ve cycled all over the world and all those nationalities are super conscientious and courteous towards cyclists. You come back to this country and it’s like a third world.”
