“In the event of an incident, there are some basic first aid checks that anyone can do to help,” explains Watts. “This primary survey, often known as DR ABC, will allow you to quickly identify if someone has a lifethreatening injury or condition.”
Smyth points out that legislation and road maintenance hasn’t been adjusted to accommodate for the major rise in traffic on rural roads. Cyclists are more likely to be killed in an accident on a rural road, yet policy changes in speed restrictions and road layouts, including the introduction of dedicated cycle-ways, are only happening in towns and cities.
Certainly there’s a need for change in urban settings. According to the most recent (2013) RoSPA data, around 75 per cent of serious accidents involving cyclists occur in urban areas. However, more than half of cyclists killed lose their lives in accidents on rural roads. “Although the focus on cycle safety in urban areas is welcome - it should not come at the cost of action in rural areas,” says Smyth.
He says one of the chief causes of fatalities among cyclists is the application of national speed limits to A-roads and lanes that are poorly lit, winding or irregular. Satellite navigation provides cyclists with access to pretty much every rural route in the UK, and the desire to seek out new rides – coupled with the rise in rider numbers – means more cyclists are discovering more roads to ride on. Make sure you survey your surroundings. Keep a look out for oncoming traffic and only help the person if it is safe to do so. Check whether the person responds when you ask them to do something like opening their eyes. If they’re unconscious, move on to the next checks as soon as possible. Make sure their airway is clear, open and maintained. If they’re not responding, tilt their head and lift their chin to open their airway.
www.sja.org.uk) Are they bleeding? If the person is bleeding severely, you should apply direct pressure to control the bleeding before calling 999. “But Sat Navs send more cars, vans and lorries through rural routes too,” says Smyth. “Many of these roads haven’t been improved or adapted to cope with the greater levels of traffic.”
Even when attempts are made to educate road-users and make the environment safer for all – such as the ‘THINK!’ safety campaign – the needs of motorists continue to be prioritised over those of cyclists.
Department for Transport data suggests that the current 60mph national speed limit in place on country roads is only appropriate on roads actually engineered to allow safe driving at this speed.
“The adverts for the Think! campaign suggested that it’s safe to drive at 60mph on most rural roads as long as you slow down before bends,” says Smyth. However, it’s a dangerously misleading message: “It’s time to tell the public that 60mph should become the exception rather than the norm.”
The message is getting through in built-up areas. Increasing numbers of towns, cities and villages are making 20mph the norm on their streets – with councils realising that simply trying to ask drivers to slow down does not work. “We have the second highest speed limit on rural roads in Europe: lower speed limits are needed in rural areas now,” says Smyth. Mr Paul Hamilton, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Spire St Anthony’s Hospital in Surrey, treats many cyclists who have been drawn to the county and its wonderful cycling routes such as the Olympic one at Box Hill. “Undoubtedly the increased number of cyclists, going at higher speeds these days, means that the injuries are increasing in number and severity,” says Hamilton.
“On rural roads the speed limits mean both cyclists and motorists reach a greater speed and thus the injuries we see are