Infrastructure investments paying off on cyclist safety, shows research

Insurer to cyclists and motorists Direct Line has delivered a piece of research that places a link between cyclist safety on the roads and recent cycling infrastructure investments.

Forming the basis of the study, analysis of Department for Transport Road Safety Data published in November of 2021, paired with Freedom of Information requests to local and county councils, reveals that what are officially badged as road traffic accidents involving cyclists and motorists have come down by 10%.

Comparing the periods of H1 2019 against data from H1 2021 (thus excluding the peak pandemic anomaly) the research found 861 fewer incidents involving a cyclist.

Analysis of the location of accidents that took place last year revealed only 255 (three per cent) occurred in a cycle lane. Less than one in 30 incidents occurred in the safety of a designated cycling lane, representing a 14 per cent drop when compared to 2019 (298).

The decrease in the number of accidents comes as local authorities have added 554 new cycle lanes over the past three years, a six per cent increase, spending a total of £869.7 million in the process to enhance cyclist safety and therefore stimulate modal share change. 

Spending on active travel, while falling short of what most campaigners would like to see, has risen and official design guidance has improved drastically as cycling infrastructure standards have come to fruition. Central Government funding allocation now prioritises those schemes showing ambition aligned to the guidance.

Councils are currently developing more than 1,300 new cycle routes across the country, with nearly 1,900 being planned in future.

According to the insurer and its Opinium opinion poll research (representative sample of 2,000 people), nearly 400,000 Britons started cycling regularly since the pandemic hit, with a total of nearly a fifth (19 per cent or 2.6 million) of regular cyclists having started in the past five years. Current events spanning rail strikes to petrol price increases are only likely to lend to the growth rate; the youth, who are paid the least by age group, have been found to be strongly considering their transport options.

Vincent Guadagnino, Communications Manager for Direct Line Cycling Insurance said: “It is great to see local authorities investing in cycling infrastructure. As well as encouraging more people to cycle frequently, our analysis suggests that this is also helping to save lives, with the number of accidents occurring in cycle lanes falling considerably in recent years. However, it is still important to consider taking out specialist cycling insurance to cover both the bike itself and also the cyclist, as sadly accidents do still happen.”

Media reporting guidelines supported by road safety orgs and developed with input from the Active Travel Academy are critical of the blanket term ‘accidents’. To find out why, see here.