Final Major Project - Week 1

In the first week of my final major project, I used it to research the subject of what my project involves. This included cyclists, the city of London, how many cyclists there are in London and how the number is growing, interaction with other road users, injury or death tolls and many other aspects of the subject. I also spent time on researching the type of places i could use to base my project.

Currently, around 570k cycle journey stages are made daily on London’s roads (2011) and 2 per cent of all journeys in London are made by bicycle. 

Cycle travel is not evenly distributed across London’s road network and has grown faster on the Transport for London Route Network (TLRN) than on other roads.

In some locations, cyclists account for a significant proportion of the traffic. Cycle traffic is rising fast on the central London Thames road crossings, and counts carried out in the City of London in October 2012 found that cyclists accounted for around a third of the vehicular traffic in the morning and evening peaks.

Cyclists already account for a significant proportion of road traffic in some locations. As cycling grows, cycles will become a major mode on an increasing number of roads in London, and future plans for the road network will need to take this into account. 

As you can see from this graph showing the publics spending on cars and bikes in the UK. The graph clearly shows a steady increase on expenditure on bikes and a very rapid decrease in expenditure on cars, showing that cars are becoming less popular as more people are moving to riding bikes.

Therefore from this information, it would make sense for the government to provide for the ever growing cyclists in the UK and ensure their safety on the roads.

This is where my pitch for a new road network for cyclists will come to fruition. This new network will ensure safety for cyclists in the most busy and dangerous parts of the city, reducing injuries and fatalities for cyclists .

Every year in this country around 19,000 cyclists are killed or injured in reported road accidents, including around 3,000 who are killed or seriously injured.

Most cycling accidents happen in urban areas where most cycling takes place. Almost two thirds of cyclists killed or seriously injured were involved in collisions at, or near, a road junction, with T junctions being the most commonly involved. Roundabouts are particularly dangerous junctions for cyclists. Not surprisingly, the severity of injuries suffered by cyclists increases with the speed limit, meaning that riders are more likely to suffer serious or fatal injuries on higher speed roads. Almost half of cyclist deaths occur on rural roads.

Around 80% of cycling accidents occur in daylight which is when most cycling takes place. For child cyclists, 90% of their accidents occur during the day. The most dangerous hours for cyclists are 3.00 to 6.00 p.m. and 8.00 to 9.00 a.m. on weekdays. However, cycling accidents in the dark are more likely to be fatal.

The second most common contributory factor attributed to cyclists was 'cyclist entering the road from the pavement' (including when a cyclist crosses the road at a pedestrian crossing), which was recorded in about 20% serious collisions (and over one third of serious collisions involving child cyclists).

Common Cycling Accidents

•Motorist emerging into path of cyclist

•Motorist turning across path of cyclist

•Cyclist riding into the path of a motor vehicle, often riding off a pavement

•Cyclist and motorist going straight ahead

•Cyclist turning right from a major road and from a minor road

•Child cyclist playing or riding too fast

Cycling Accidents

Around 75% of fatal or serious cyclist accidents occur in urban areas2

Around half of cyclist fatalities occur on rural roads

75% happen at, or near, a road junction

80% occur in daylight

80% of cyclist casualties are male

Almost one quarter of the cyclists killed or injured are children

Around three quarters of cyclists killed have major head injuries.