More cyclists getting killed on roads
Recently released accident claims figures from the Department for Transport, imply that there has been a sharp increase in the number of cyclists killed or seriously hurt on Britain's roads.
Experts state that this could be caused in part by inexperienced riders taking to the streets, or risky cycling behaviour such as red-light jumping.
Figures show that 820 cyclists were killed or seriously injured in the three months to June this year. That is a 19% increase on the same period of 2008.
Car drivers and passenger deaths and serious injuries, dropped 4% year-on-year, while those for pedestrians also fell by 8%.
Not surprisingly, the number of accident claims also increased in the same period.
Cycling campaigners stress that annual figures are a better guide than quarterly figures.
"It's a difficult one for us," said a representative from UK's biggest cycling organisation. "It's important that we continue to campaign on safety issues but we don't want to lose sight of the issue that cycling remains a fundamentally safe thing to do, particularly when you weigh up the health benefits it brings."
The cycling organisation also noted that statistics provided by Transport for London, prove that in recent years, around 5% of cyclists killed in the nation's capital were due to jumping a traffic signal.
"It's not a big factor, but it could be something. It is fair to say that particularly in London, riding behaviour has deteriorated in recent years."
Updated on 06/11/2009