Healthy Streets

Protected cycle lanes, such as these in Winchmore Hill, have been shown to sharply reduce fatalities among all road users, not just cyclists

The most comprehensive study of bicycle and road safety to date finds that building safe facilities for cyclists is one of the biggest factors in road safety for everyone. Bicycling infrastructure -- specifically, separated and protected bike lanes -- leads to fewer fatalities and better road-safety outcomes for all road users.  The study shows that "roads are safer for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists in cities with robust bike facilities".

Researchers studied road safety statistics for 12 US cities over a 13-year period and found that protected bike lanes were associated with very high reductions in fatalities among all road users - not just among cyclists.  They cite reductions of fatalities ranging from 38.2 per cent to as much as 75 per cent.

"Bicycling seems inherently dangerous on its own," said study co-author Wesley Marshall, PhD, PE, assistant professor in the College of Engineering, Design and Computing at CU Denver. "So it would seem that a city with a lot of bicycling is more dangerous, but the opposite is true. Building safe facilities for cyclists turned out to be one of the biggest factors in road safety for everyone."

The study, published in the Journal of Transport & Health, found that bike facilities act as "calming" mechanisms on traffic, drivers become more aware of their surrounding, drive more slowly, and there is a consequent reduction in fatalities.

In the UK, 26,610 people were killed or seriously injured on the roads in the year to June 2018, the last period for which government statistics are available. Around one in 20 of those were cyclists.

Intetesting it says ‘even’ the AA supports bike lanes...we have for ages. Bike lanes save lives of drivers as well as cyclists, study finds @carltonreid @WeAreCyclingUK @Chris_Boardman https://t.co/eqhAA8LLkE

— Edmund King OBE (@AAPresident) May 30, 2019

Support for building more protected cycling infrastructure in the UK comes not just from organisations such as the London Cycling Campaign and its local branch, the Enfield Cycling Campaign, but also from London Living Streets, which works to improve conditions for pedestrians in the capital and - most significantly perhaps - from the AA, whose president, Edmund King, is quoted as saying "Our own extensive research shows that 84 per cent of drivers who cycle feel safest on dedicated cycle ways, hence we support calls for more cycle lanes. The fact that 65 per cent of drivers are still 'surprised when a cyclist appears from nowhere' – which obviously they don't – shows that they need to be more aware of their surroundings when driving at all times, and dedicated lanes would help."