Cyclists’ chances of fatal crash ‘ higher on country roads than busy city streets’

PICTURESQUE country roads may prove more lethal to cyclists than busy urban streets, analysis suggests, leading to a disproportionate number of weekend accidents.

While rural A- roads carry only four per cent of the country’s cycle traffic, they account for a quarter of all bike- related deaths, rising to 30 per cent at weekends.

The analysis, by the Sunday Times, looked at serious and critical accidents through the week when compared with weekends, and the most dangerous routes.

Some of the nation’s best- loved hillspots, including those featuring in the Tour de Yorkshire, appear on its “weekend casualty list”.

The Menwith, Beckwithshaw and Denton Moor area had the seventh most dangerous routes, with 27 accidents recorded since 2009, and the Upper Dales was 10th with 21.

One of Britain’s most popular destinations, Box Hill in Surrey, was the most lethal.

It comes following reports in Saturday’s The Times that some of the country’s most cycle- friendly cities are also home to some of the most dangerous stretches of road.

The A603 across Cambridge saw a crash for every 171 miles travelled by bicycle, while on the Iffley Road in Oxford a crash was recorded for every 192 miles travelled. About 70 of the 100 most dangerous routes were in London, but commuter routes in Leeds and York also featured.

Official figures show that 4,092 cyclists were killed or injured on British roads last year, a rise of 11 per cent amid a 17 per cent increase in the number of riders over the past decade.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged to spend £ 2bn on infrastructure amid a “cycling and walking revolution”. But Nick Simmons, chief executive of RoadPeace, the national charity for road crash victims, suggested that the measures did not go far enough. “It is absolutely essential that as people are encouraged to walk and cycle, they are protected,” he said.