The president of British Cycling has published an open letter to the prospective candidates for the 2012 London Mayoral Elections, calling on them to declare their plans to reduce accidents and promote cycling within the city.
In his letter earlier this month, British Cycling president Brian Cookson called upon the candidates for mayor to promise greater investment to train other road users to respect and be aware of cyclists. Mr Cookson also called for speed limits in inner city areas to be reduced and for road layouts and infrastructure to be improved to make it easier and safer for cyclists to use roads in urban areas.
The open letter from British Cycling comes after the release of official accident figures revealed that 16 cyclists were killed on the streets of London in 2011. These figures reflect an increase in the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured in the capital in recent years and cycling campaigners are now calling for more to be done to prevent further deaths. As My Cycling Claim reported recently, several national newspapers have already launched cycling safety campaigns focusing on the safety of cyclists in the inner cities in the run up to this summer’s Olympic Games.
In his letter, which was feature in its entirety on the CyclingWeekly website, Mr Cookson said:
“I am writing to you ahead of the Mayoral elections for London in what will no doubt be a tremendous year for sport and cycling in the capital. At British Cycling we are privileged to be able to look forward to a summer of Olympic and Paralympic sport in our capital city with all the surrounding benefits such as the venues that will be left for us to use and the way the Games will inspire more people to get on their bikes…
…I would like to hear your specific plans for cycling and how you intend to encourage more young people to be given the opportunity to take up sport, including cycling, with all the social benefits this creates. In particular British Cycling would like to hear how you intend to make the city safer and friendlier for cyclists…”
This year’s London Mayoral elections will take place on Thursday 3rd May 2012 when six candidates, including current Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and former Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone will be in contention for the office.
My Cycling Claim was set up to provide free legal advice and assistance to cyclists who found themselves at the receiving end of dangerous or negligent driving and who had been injured as a result. Our cycling claims solicitors are available to answer your cycling accident questions and as a law firm we can, if you have the grounds to make a claim, take your case on and recover compensation for any injuries you might have suffered in a cycling accident. For more advice, call our claims advice service today or submit an enquiry through the My Cycling Claims website.
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A cycle safety campaign launched by the Times newspaper has received 17,000 signatures since being set up in November last year. The campaign, launched after one of the paper’s own journalists was knocked off her bicycle, has received widespread support from professional cyclists, famous faces and politicians. An eight-point manifesto has been created for the campaign with the aim of making cities safer for cyclists. Continue reading this story!
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The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has put forward plans for a two-day festival of cycling to make use of the new cycling facilities at the 2012 Olympics site in Stratford, East London.
Continue reading this story!
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Newly released accident statistics from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents reveal that despite overall improvements in the numbers of people injured in accidents on the road, there are still 17,000 accidents involving cyclists reported to the Police each year. RoSPA’s figures, taken from accidents that were reported to the Police in 2010, also reveal some interesting details about the times of day when cycling accidents are most likely to occur and the types of cyclist most likely to be involved in an accident.
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Using your bike in city centres continues to increase in popularity, not just in the UK, but arguably even more so in big US cities such as New York, Boston and Chicago. With many more people using their bikes to get around towns and cities, there is a growing potential for accidents involving cyclists, some of whom might not be familiar with cycling in traffic and motorists, who themselves might not be comfortable dealing with cyclists on the road as well as other motor vehicles. Now a new website from the USA aims to provide cyclists with instant overviews of accident hotspots in their cities. Continue reading this story!
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Cycling accidents involving children have been in the news over the summer, as a private member’s bill progresses through the Houses of Parliament with the intention to make it compulsory for under-14s to wear helmets when cycling. The Cycles Bill, sponsored by Mid Dorset and North Poole MP Annette Brooke, proposes the introduction of penalty fines if children are found riding without helmets. Continue reading this story!
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The government is considering introducing a new offence of causing death by dangerous cycling, after an MP proposed the move in a private members bill earlier this year. The bill, proposed by Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom would bring the punishment for cyclists who kill pedestrians in line with the penalties for motorists who cause fatal accidents. Continue reading this story!
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Here at My Cycling Claim we are always interested in hearing from cyclists about their experiences of cycling in England and Wales. If you know a great cycling route – it maybe one that you ride every weekend, or one that you might only have ridden once or twice holiday – let us know. Continue reading this story!
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Pot holes. Sometimes it seems you can’t cycle for more than a few hundred metres before coming across one and that’s if you are lucky, often you don’t see them until it is too late. If you are a cyclist who has fallen foul of one of the many hundreds of thousands of potholes in Britain’s roads then you will understand just how serious a safety risk they pose to all road users, particularly cyclists. Continue reading this story!
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