Lime Technology Ltd commissioned TRL to undertake an evidence review of the factors influencing cycling safety in the UK, with a focus on infrastructure, street design, traffic conditions, behaviour, training and education.
The review found the evidence base is substantial but uneven, with important gaps and known underreporting issues, particularly for non-fatal and single-cyclist incidents. The evidence identified suggests cycling safety is shaped by a complex interaction of infrastructure, environmental, behavioural and road-user interaction factors, rather than by any single cause.
The evidence supports a ‘Safety in Numbers’ effect, where higher cyclist volumes are generally associated with lower individual cyclist risk, but it also cautions that increases in cycling alone are unlikely to guarantee improved safety. The strongest practical findings point to the importance of high-quality cycling-specific infrastructure, particularly segregation from motor traffic, safer intersection design, management of traffic speeds and volumes, and road environments that reduce conflict and complexity. Driver and rider behaviour and cycle training also have a role.
Overall, the review finds that improving cycling safety requires a system-wide approach that combines infrastructure, behaviour, training, governance and policy, with interventions and investment targeted towards the areas and conditions of highest risk, in particular where cyclists and motor vehicles come into conflict. The recommendations from the review are:
- Any investment in cycling should focus on high-quality, continuous segregated infrastructure, particularly on roads with higher traffic volumes or speeds, and intersection improvements, recognising that intersections are among the highest-risk locations for cyclists.
- Cycling infrastructure investment should be prioritised using a risk-based approach, targeting locations where conflict between cyclists and motor traffic is greatest.
- Decision-makers should focus on creating coherent end-to-end cycling routes, rather than isolated sections of infrastructure.
- Decision-makers should ensure that infrastructure provision keeps pace with growth in cycling demand, particularly where cycling activity is increasing.
- Scheme design and prioritisation should be guided by established good-practice principles, particularly those set out in LTN 1/20.
- Government and local authorities should consider developing more comprehensive and standardised records of cycling infrastructure provision, to support planning, monitoring, evaluation and sharing of good practice.
- New cycling schemes should be accompanied by proportionate monitoring and evaluation, to improve understanding of which interventions deliver the greatest safety benefits and to build for best practice future schemes and infrastructure.