RURAL PERIL

More UK cyclists are killed on rural lanes than on busy city streets. Rob Kemp investigates why and what can be done to keep us safe while riding in the countryside

- Rob Kemp

Here's a fact that might surprise you: as a cyclist you're almost twice as likely to be killed riding on a rural road than on a busy urban high street. While the clamour for cycle lanes and improved bike safety focuses on the UK's towns and cities, those taking to the out-of-town byways are left to fend for themselves. The chocolate box scenery, winding lanes and relative tranquillity of the countryside are what, for many of us, cycling is all about. So what can we do to reap the rewards of rural rides without becoming another statistic?

In September 2023, the government released a report on the number of pedal cyclist accidents resulting in injuries in the UK in 2022. They confirmed that 11,546 were slightly injured, 4,056 seriously injured and tragically, 91 were killed. Taking a longer view, in the period from 2004 to 2022, fatalities were down 32% from 134 to 91, but serious injuries increased by 21%, while cycle traffic had increased by 50%. The big fall in the number of cyclists killed on UK roads is clearly good news, but an examination of the period 2018 to 2022 highlights how 56% of pedal cycle fatalities occurred on rural roads, compared to 29% on urban ones. More worrying still for those of us who love countryside jaunts, accidents on rural roads are around four times more likely to result in a fatality.

Though news headlines often focus on cyclist fatalities in city centres, the number of cycling casualties recorded on rural roads highlights how perilous cycling in the UK countryside has become. Some of the most dangerous roads for cyclists in the UK are the rural A-roads found in Surrey (5,254 casualties reported 2012-2022), Hampshire (4,145) and Kent (3,711). The rural area with the highest incidence of casualties - averaging over 500 a year - spans the Surrey Hills and Box Hill.