Cambridge: Campaign For Cycle Safety

21 October 2013, 15:31 | Updated: 21 October 2013, 16:55

A campaign to raise awareness of cycle safety in London is being rolled out in cities across the UK, including Cambridge.

The poster campaign, which aims to cut the number of cyclists killed or injured, will target road users in five cities – Leeds, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham and Cambridge.

The number of cyclists killed in Great Britain increased from 107 in 2011 to 118 in 2012. The five cities have been chosen because they have the highest rates of accidents involving cyclists outside of London.

The posters (pictured above) were first used in London during the summer.

Roads Minister Robert Goodwill said: "The UK has some of the safest roads in the world, but a number of cyclists are still killed or seriously injured every year and we are determined to tackle this.

"This campaign aims to make motorists aware of the need to look out for cyclists, ensuring they take extra care when turning at junctions, for example, and encourages cyclists to think about the dangers that they could be unaware of when they are riding."

The government is making £278 million available to support safer cycling, including £35 million to tackle dangerous junctions. In addition, nearly all of the projects being funded by the department’s £600 million Local Sustainable Transport Fund contain a cycling element.

The government has also made it simpler for councils to introduce 20mph zones, and install Trixi mirrors at junctions, which help to eliminate blind spots for drivers of Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) and give them better visibility of cyclists.

The campaign, which launches today (Monday 21st October), will run for four weeks. For more information visit the Think Website: http://think.direct.gov.uk/cycling.html.