EMBARGO: 7 May 2009
A new campaign for cyclists to promote ‘Safety in Numbers’ is being launched in Parliament today by broadcaster and CTC President Jon Snow.
CTC President Jon Snow said: “My own experiences as a regular cyclist tell me that London’s streets have started getting a lot safer, thanks to the growth in cycling over the past decade. We all know that more cycling is good, not just for our own health but also for our communities and the environment. I hope decision-makers throughout the country will now heed CTC’s message that more cycling will improve road safety too.”
In a comparison of cycle use and cyclists’ safety in English cities and counties, CTC – the UK’s national cyclists’ organisation, has found new evidence that cycling gets safer the more cyclists there are. The data show that the places with the highest cycle use – York, Cambridgeshire and Hull – are also the safest places to cycle. Also, in London there has been a 91% increase in cycle use since 2000, together with a 33% reduction in the actual number of cyclist casualties over roughly the same period. This adds weight to international evidence that the best way to improve cyclists’ safety is to encourage more people to cycle.
CTC’s campaign comes just a fortnight after the Government began consulting on a new Road Safety Strategy for the next decade. The draft strategy already includes a target -called for by CTC - to halve the risks of cycling within 10 years and CTC believes the best way to meet this target is to double cycle use over the same period; so it is urging MPs to sign a parliamentary motion backing its call for the Road Safety Strategy to aim for more as well as safer cycling.
More as well as safer cycling, can be achieved by tackling the fears which deter people from cycling, such as the speed of traffic, irresponsible driving, hostile roads and junctions and lorries. CTC are also calling for a commitment to making cycle training for all ages widely available.
Roger Geffen, CTC’s Campaigns and Policy Manager, said: “There is good evidence that cycling gets safer the more cyclists there are. Yet despite this, local councils are often reluctant to encourage cycling for fear that this would lead to more casualties – and some even think the best way to meet their safety targets is to scare people off cycling altogether! So I’m delighted the Government has taken on board CTC’s suggestion that new targets for cycle safety should be measured in terms of the risk per mile cycled, not simple casualty numbers. We hope this will encourage local authorities to aim for ‘more’ as well as ‘safer’ cycling, in order to maximise cycling’s health and other benefits.”
Ends
For more information, interviews or photographs contact CTC’s Press Office on 0844 736 8453 or 07786 320713.
Notes to editors:
· As well as providing new evidence that cycling gets safer the more cyclists there are, CTC’s ‘Safety in Numbers’ pamphlet sets out the specific road safety measures needed locally and nationally to tackle the fears which deter people from cycling. The briefing also contains references to previous research on the “safety in numbers” phenomenon, the evidence for the benefits of cycle training, and for CTC’s proposed solutions to tackle vehicle speeds, hostile roads and junctions, irresponsible driving and lorries. These arguments are also outlined in CTC’s press release of 21 April 2009, responding to the publication of the draft Road Safety Strategy.
· CTC has graded non-metropolitan English highway authorities according to the levels of cycle commuting in the 2001 census, and the number of cycle casualties per million cycle commuters in the local area. Places such as York, Cambridgeshire and Hull were in the top band both for cycle use and for cyclists’ safety, whereas authorities with low cycle use were among those with the highest casualty rates.
· York and Cambridge are both Cycling Cities which now receive funding from Cycling England aimed at delivering substantial growth in cycling. With limited resources, Cycling England’s strategy to date has quite reasonably been to focus on achieving results in a small number of the most pro-cycling authorities around the country. However, with English Councils due to write their next round of Local Transport Plans later this autumn, CTC now believes the Government should aim to ensure that the aim of achieving substantial increases in cycle use should be the norm for all local authorities, not just a hand-picked few.
· CTC’s “New Vision for Cycling” (www.ctc.org.uk/newvision) called for a doubling of cycle use and a halving of the risks of cycling within 10 years. It also outlines the health and other benefits this would bring, and the policies to achieve these targets. CTC has strongly welcomed the inclusion of the second of these two targets in the draft Road Safety Strategy. CTC now believes the best way for the Government to achieve this target is to also aim for the first of the targets, namely a doubling of cycle use.
· CTC - the UK’s national cyclists' organisation is the oldest and largest cycling body in the UK. Established in 1878, it now has 70,000 members and affiliates in 250 clubs across the UK. We provide a comprehensive range of services, advice, events, and protection for our members and work to promote cycling by raising public and political awareness of its health, social and environmental benefits. For more information see www.ctc.org.uk.