Cyclists Challenge Government To ‘6-Point Safety Plan’

When you see cyclists wearing hivis jackets, you know straight away that they are taking their safety on the roads seriously - after all, in the case of a collision with a car or bus, it’s cyclists who are much more likely to pay for it with their lives.

Now, cycling safety group Cycling UK have challenged the UK government to make simple changes in six areas, asking the question: “why wouldn't you make these changes?”, according to Road CC. 

Paul Tuohy, Cycling UK’s CEO said that the charity had done all of the hard work already by coming up with solutions to these issue: “Air pollution, obesity, congestion, increasing danger on our roads – these are all major problems the Government faces. With ‘Cycle safety: make it simple’, Cycling UK has provided a range of easy and cost-effective solutions to all of these problems.

The first area the campaign “Cycling safety: make it simple” aims to promote changes in is road and street design, which is often criticised in the UK for being 'car-centric'.

They would also like to see changes in the Highway Code to reflect a move towards safer roads for cyclists. This includes a “Dutch Reach” - a technique taught in the Netherlands where you use your hand furthest from the door to open it, twisting your body to bring possible cyclists into your line of sight.

A focus on safer vehicles has also been demanded, especially lorries. While far fewer accidents occurred between cyclists and lorries, they are far more likely to be fatal for the cyclist involved.