New figures show cycling not getting safer in London

New figures released by Transport for London show that despite official reassurances that cycling has been getting safer it has, in fact, been getting less safe for each year Boris Johnson has been Mayor.

Green Assembly Member Jenny Jones was assured at December’s Mayor Question Time that cycling was consistently getting more safe and it was irresponsible to publicly raise concerns on the issue. Now the figures have confirmed her fears Jones has responded: “We know that cycle safety is the big problem which puts Londoners off jumping on their bikes. There are a growing number of deaths and injuries of cyclists and trying to cover that up by issuing factually inaccurate statements won’t change the reality.”

She continued “My calculation, based upon the TfL’s figures is that the rate of injuries per cycle journey has been growing since around 2007/08. The truth is uncomfortable for all of us who want London to be a cycling friendly city. The Mayor has failed to make roads safer for vulnerable road users and he is fast becoming the big barrier to the future expansion of cycling in London.”

These figures add weight to the growing movement calling for road safety for cyclists and pedestrians. This week The Times newspaper also threw its weight behind calls for road safety to be taken more seriously and the issue looks set to be one of the defining features of this year’s Mayoral election.

TfL’s figures (below) show a dramatic increase in road casualties since 2005, and most importantly that while there are more cyclists on the roads today than ever the proportion of those getting hurt has been increasing for four years in a row.

One of the key factors that prevents people taking bikes onto London’s streets is safety concerns and, if we want to continue to get more and more people out cycling on the roads then it is vital that these safety issues are addressed.