How Safe Is Cycling in the UK Today?

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mrvandango

Regular
Location
Dorchester
That's quite remarkable considering the boom in riders over the last few years!
 

steveindenmark

Legendary Member
There were no road deaths from cycling last year. Most fatalities were caused by riders being hit by motor vehicles, not by cycling.
.

I think that is wishful thinking.

Are you telling us that cyclists are always completely blameless for their own demise and that the motorist is always to blame?

A quick look on Youtube will show cyclists who make their own problems. Then there is the occasional topple over and bang on the head. Then there is the likes of the idiot MTBer who I nearly ran over in the woods yesterday who just assumed that no traffic would be on the road and didnt bother to stop. Had I ran over him, I certainly wouldnt have held myself accountable.

Its a sensible question by the OP. We are all cyclists but were are certainly not blameless.
 

Fab Foodie

hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
Location
Kirton, Devon.
That's quite remarkable considering the boom in riders over the last few years!
Not really, there is huge safety in numbers. The more people that ride, the more drivers are aware of cyclists as they become commonplace.
I cut my teeth commuting in London in the early 80s, when cycling numbers just about hit rock bottom. It was like a war out there compared to now.
Kids today eh ^_^
 
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Giant leaps forward in patient care as well, fewer people die following RTCs than eighty years ago because medical advances have been tremendous. In terms of vehicle developments almost all advances have been to externalise the risk, transpose the danger to outside the vehicle. Eighty years ago there were no crumple zones, seatbelts, airbags, etc etc. so road deaths fall because vehicle occupants are swaddled and cosseted, deaths outside the vehicle see no such reduction.

The law also hasn't caught up in technological advances. We know that chatting on a mobile impairs driving the same as being drunk, yet a driver chatting on a mobile can fail to notice a cyclist alongside, kill them, and get charged with nothing., like with Svetlana Tereschenko, or walk free from court, like the Mary Bowers case.

The Beeb reporting has been awful, yesterday they showed a cyclist getting punched and didn't bother explaining what happened, to day they banged on about earphones. Trivialities. Slapdash reporting that is not constructive or honest.
 
Ten times more dangerous than cycling in Denmark. Acres of room for improvement.
 
Location
Midlands
Not really, there is huge safety in numbers. The more people that ride, the more drivers are aware of cyclists as they become commonplace.
I cut my teeth commuting in London in the early 80s, when cycling numbers just about hit rock bottom. It was like a war out there compared to now.
Kids today eh ^_^

It was good fun tho - Along the Fulham road, Embankment and across Waterloo Bridge to Blackfriars - home through town in the evening, lots to see in those days
 

steveindenmark

Legendary Member
Ten times more dangerous than cycling in Denmark. Acres of room for improvement.

Not quite sure what you mean. But if you are suggesting cycling in the UK in ten times more dangerous than in Denmark, I would add a couple of zeros on your estimation.

Cyclists are King of the road over here. But most Danes have bikes, even the car driving Danes.
 
How Safe? An impossible question to answer, but it is quite clear that the UK has failed to improve safety for cyclists to the same extent as improvements have been made in motor vehicle occupant safety.

Or sentencing for killer drivers:

....
These are all a matter of public record.
Oxford - a driver received 240 hours of community service and a 1 year ban for killing cyclist Joseph Wilkins. Cyclist was blameless.
Derbyshire - an HGV driver got a suspended 24 month prison sentence and a 2 year ban for killing cyclist Karl Austin who was taking part in a time trial and had more lights and hi vis on him than you can shake a stick at.
Perth - driver got 300 hrs community service, a 30 month ban and a driving test resit for killing motorcyclist David Roberts. For months driver tried to blame biker. Evidence said different. Biker was blameless.
Norfolk - driver got 120 hrs community service and a 2 year ban (which the driver unsuccessfully tried to appeal) for killing motorcyclist Mathew Thompson. Biker blameless.
Surrey - driver got a suspended 6 month sentence, 2 year ban and 150 hrs community service for killing motorcyclist Joanna McDonald. Biker blameless.
Coventry - driver received a 6 month sentence and a 1 year ban for killing motorist Eugene Collins. Driver was on the wrong side of the road on a bend but initially blamed the other driver. Mr Collins blameless.
Lowestoft - driver receives a community order and a 2 year ban for killing pedestrian David Wright and injuring his wife. Was possibly distracted by her mobile phone"
 

Fab Foodie

hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
Location
Kirton, Devon.
It was good fun tho - Along the Fulham road, Embankment and across Waterloo Bridge to Blackfriars - home through town in the evening, lots to see in those days
You're right, it was a blast!
I ran the Gauntlet of the A24/Northern line from Morden to The Elephant. People would have short wooden batons on their handlebars to thwack car rooftops with. I saw many a punch-up too twixt drivers and cyclists, real fisticuffs. Mayhem!
On nice evenings we'd leave The Elephant and blast along the Embankment, down through Chelsea/ Fulham, over to Clapham Junction and then home.
Happy Daze.
I still do it if we're weekending at the in-laws and it's still a hoot, especially racing through Tooting traffic and staying alive!
 
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