Manchester Cyclists most concerned about road safety
Despite being home to the now iconic National Cycling Centre, Manchester is the city that cause the most concern for cyclists in the UK when it comes to road safety.
The survey published last month and carried out by the sustainable transport charity, Sustrans, revealed that just 55% of Mancunians feel safe when cycling on the streets of their city during the day, which was 14% more than their nearest city competitor, which was Birmingham.
Cardiff is the city where people feel the least vulnerable cycling through; with 33% of people saying that they felt unsafe cycling on the roads,
Last year 109 road cycling deaths were reported by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), 70% of which were recorded in urban areas. The message is clear; more still needs to be done to make the UK’s roads safer for more vulnerable users.
Speaking on behalf of Sustrans, Jason Torrance, Policy Director, said: “The message from the public couldn’t be clearer. There is a desire to cycle more, but that a lack of safe places to ride bikes is off-putting.”
“People want the government to spend more, and say that they would cycle more if it were safer. Now the Government must close this gap between current spending and public demand.”
The country is currently going through hard times with many of our public services, including the legal profession, being subject to savage and restrictive cuts. As a result of this, you might think that investment in cycling safety is a low priority but in a recent poll, eight out of ten UK residents came out in support of the expenditure and the average person believed that the national Government should be spending around £26 per person on cycling per year.
Speaking about cycling in the UK, Scott Rees and Co Partner, David Byrne (pictured), who himself is a keen cyclist, said: “It is clear that the Government is still not doing enough to protect the most vulnerable road users in the UK. It is almost laughable that the city that is considered to be the home of UK cycling, is also the home of the most fear when it comes to riding a bike on the roads.”
“The injuries suffered by cyclists involved in a road traffic accident are more often than not, devastating. Many victims never fully recover and when they do they often have to go through unimaginable pain and suffering, both physically and mentally.”
“There has to be a time where the Government sits up and takes notice of what the electorate are telling them and clearly that is that they want more protection for cyclists on the road.”
In 2013, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, promised to “kick-start a cycling revolution.” Such a revolution can not take place of more and more people are fearful of cycling on the UK’s roads.
Also in the news, concerning cyclists recently, is the revelation that the number of road incidents in Scotland is reportedly on the rise.
New figures, released by Transport Scotland, showed that Scotland’s roads are becoming increasingly dangerous for cyclists, although there has been an 8% drop in the number of deaths.
A total of 888 cyclists were injured last year, which represents a rise of 0.5% on the year before. If you have been involved in an accident while out cycling and it wasn’t your fault, visit our cycling accident claims page for more information about whether you can claim.