Danger on roads preventing uptake in cycling

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The danger of riding a bicycle on roads is still the biggest barrier to people taking up cycling in England and many more would cycle if safety concerns were met,  research from the Department of Transport indicates.

Survey research, commissioned by the Department for Transport on the subject of Climate Change and Transport Choices in England, found that more than 60% of people in England who are able to cycle are deterred from riding a bike because they believe it is too dangerous. Additionally, many found cycling on streets to be too stressful (63%).

Attitudes towards cycling and safety varied most significantly by age and gender. Older people tended to be more concerned about the dangers associated with cycling. Women also tended to be more worried than men about the dangers of cycling – 71% agreeing that it was too dangerous to cycle on roads compared with 51% of men.

The research found that some of the respondents to the survey might be encouraged to cycle if action was taken to reduce safety risks.  For instance more people “would” cycle if there were more dedicated cycle paths’ (52%). The fear of having a bicycle stolen was also be a barrier to cycling.  Slightly fewer than half (41%) of respondents who were able to cycle agreed that they would cycle (more) if there were more secure places to store bicycles.

Many also saw the distance of travelling covered by a bicycle as a barrier. The research findings suggested that the likelihood of cycling to work decreases considerably if the journey to work is longer than three miles. Nearly one in ten (8%) of those whose regular journey was less than three miles usually cycled to work. In contrast, only 2% of those with journeys of 3-4.9 miles usually cycled to work. Among those who needed to travel 10 miles or more, cycling to work was extremely uncommon.

The research findings, based on based on 3,923 face-to-face interviews conducted in respondents’ homes in England between November 2009 and June 2010, are detailed in a Department for Transport report called Climate Change and Transport Choices.

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