On your bike!
Time out trawled through stats and polled over 600 Londoners to find out the truth about bikes in the capital
On your bike!
Since 2000, the number of cycle journeys made on London's major roads has increased by 72% - and by 100% in summer months.
On average, approximately 450,000 cycle journeys are made across London every day - that's 3,150,000 journeys per week.
There’s massive potential for growth. Less than 2% of trips in London are made by bicycle, a fraction of the level in cities such as Berlin (5 per cent), Munich (12 per cent), Copenhagen (20 per cent) and Amsterdam (28 per cent). Half of all trips currently made in London are less than two miles, easily within cycling distance. 51% of Londoners own at least one bike – with 4% owning three or more.
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In a recent survey, 20% of Londoners questioned declared themselves committed non-cyclists.
While exact causes for most of the 3,033 recorded collisions involving bicycles in Greater London in 2004 were unspecified, 179 occurred when cyclists were turning right or waiting to turn; 82 when turning left or waiting to turn; and 205 when overtaking.
5 hapless cyclists suffered accidents while 'reversing'.
The number of cyclists killed or seriously injured on London’s roads has fallen by 42% over the past seven years. Between January and September 2005, 2,184 cyclists were involved in accidents on London’s roads. 16 were fatal, 252 were serious, and 1,916 were classed as slight accidents.
12% of our poll believes that not using lights or reflective clothing is the most dangerous thing cyclists do. Only a quarter of London cyclists always make sure they’re wearing reflective clothing, and 16% refuse to bother with it at all.
29% of people who responded to our poll say that jumping red lights is the most dangerous thing cyclists do. Which is worrying, since 64% of cyclists admit that they do it at least occasionally. 35% are adamant that they never do it. A worrying 11 people said that they ‘always’ jump red lights – presumably ploughing headlong into a stream of traffic. Of the red light jumpers, 36% check for police first, while 19% are never on the look-out for the fuzz.
Other suggestions for the most dangerous thing cyclists do include ‘hanging off Routemasters’, ‘arguing with aggressive drivers’, ‘pissing me off’, ‘playing chicken with the lions’, don’t ask us’ and ‘taking stupid surveys that will be used to demonise a minority group’
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15 comments
Caroline. I couldn't agree with you more. spot on :)
The significance of the figure that "cyclists make up 40% of their road casualties, despite making up only 10% of road users." depends entirely on whether this is a count of vehicles or occupants: are bus and car passengers counted as road users?
pedestrians - how many LOOK PROPERLY before stepping into the road? Often if they haven'y 'heard' a car they assume nothing is coming & step out! I have been riding to work everyday in London for 10 years and the only cause of accidents have been motorists mainly 1 - not stopping at give way junctions & 2 - cutting in front to make left turns. Obviously the cyclists comes off worse! I'm not biased, I also drive and ride a scooter, I'm just telling it like it is! After 9/11 there was a huge increase in bad cyclists but hopefully these have now learnt some road sense or gone back to the tubes! This morning I had a pedesrian on a cycle path telling me I shouldn't be using it! Fortunately there was a big 'CYCLE PATH' sign nearby so I soon put him strainght! OK there are bad cyclists - but there are also bad drivers and bad pedestrians - why can't everyone just be a bit more sensible and tolerant and stop thinking they are the only important thing in the universe?!
Are there different rules for cyclists? Seems as though that is the case. I have had so many close calls but not yet been hit by a cyclist. Those cyclists who are a danger to pedestrians give all the good cyclists a bad name.
Literally every day i leave my workplace near Covent Garden and almost get hit by cyclists jumping the red light at the crossing and ignoring the rules of the road. The other day as I stepped off a bus a cyclist knocked me over by using the bus stop as a traffic short cut. There must be a way to start handing out fines or prosecuting cyclists for this. And it's the vast majority I see who cycle this way.
I am happy to be alive every day after cycling to and from work. Extreme sport on a daily basis...
Fair enough! But the fair weather ones cycle like they drive - shite. The next one I see wearing a fucking IPod whilst cycling through traffic is getting a smack.
Positive defensive cycling, think ahead, pick a line, hold the line, keep the 'beat' with the surrounding traffic, obey the road rules as the situation demands, don't take chances (you'll always come off second best) can't legislate for idiots on four wheels or two, don't tailgate Kamikazi riders or it will be 'goodnight Irene' sooner or later, be aware, don't put yourself in potential dangerous situations. You can be lit up like a xmas tree but if two or four wheelers don't look you could be dead meat on the street, don't trust anyone on the road to do what you would do, expect the unexpected, keep your cool when all around you . . . get home in one piece. Buena Suerte, Adios
Why has nobody mentioned cycle paths??
Most European cities have more cyclists due to the fact that they have a clear connecting system of dedicated cycleways, set aside from busy roads! London has a token gesture of cycle paths that do not match up and are generally ignored by all other road users!
London needs to put its money where its mouth is! and take cyclists needs seriously, then not only will cycling be accessible to more people, it will also be safer.
How biased! I see now it is acceptable in the eyes of the press to imply that cyclists liars if their answers to a biased survey don't quite match what is expected. A 'dubious 41% claim they never ride on the pavements'. Where are the questions about what causes injury to cyclists? Once again the cyclist is painted as the villian and the motorist - who kills a mere 3000-odd people a year - the victim. Oh please. Get a life. Get a bike!
What a strange survey. You seem blissfully unaware that all available surveys, including one by the AA, show motorist errors as the main cause of cyclist casualties (mainly through the motorist failing to give way at junctions). Are those the accidents you categorised as "unspecified" causes? Marianne is spot on - as any advanced cycle training will tell you, hugging the kerb and related wrong road positioning are the most dangerous things a cyclist can do. And unless you have evidence that all cyclists ride on the pavement (far fetched), you probably got honest answers - although who knows whether the survey was representative, as you haven't tried to find out. Just to state the obvious, virtually all adult cyclists are motorists, by the way.
One point not mentioned:
The danger bad cyclists pose to other cyclists. In central London you often hit pockets of cyclists at cross roads. When they start to cross the junction it's easy to get caught up between not-so-skilled cyclists....
BIKES RULE!
The gap you found between opinion and behavior reflects nothing so much as the poor quality of your survey questions.
I may think that running a red light at a busy intersection at full speed is the most dangerous thing some cyclists do (you also failed to ask, dangerous to whom?), and yet occasionally proceed at a deserted red light at a pedestrian crossing after first having come to a full stop.
Likewise, I may think that *riding without lights* (and possibly additional reflectors on the bike) is very dangerous, but not think reflective clothing is necessary and hence not wear any.
In addition, you may consider adding the option "Wrong road positioning/ hugging the kerb" to your list of dangerous things next time.
Ahh, what a lovely biased report. You'll find that the majority of cyclists do ride on the pavement, but you'll find many, like myself, never do (unless it's a shared cycleway). Like lawyers, it's the majority that make it worse for the minority of us.