New data and analysis released by DEKRA Accident Research, covering 12,000 cyclists and e-Scooter users across Europe has found London to have Europe’s highest helmet use.
Covering Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Ljubljana, London, Paris, Vienna, Warsaw and Zagreb, the research sought to understand the relationship between cycle use rates, safe infrastructure and helmet use.
One thing was immediately obvious, said the researchers: “When you look at the number of accidents as a ratio of distance traveled, the Netherlands is the second safest country after Denmark in which to ride a bicycle,” says DEKRA accident researcher Luigi Ancona. “Our figures clearly suggest a link between a bicycle-friendly infrastructure, the subjective feeling of safety and the rate of helmet-wearing.”

The Scottish Government is planning to introduce low emission zones in Scotland’s four largest cities: Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Vehicles that do not meet the minimum standard will face a penalty if they enter.
Edinburgh Live reports that in the capital, a citywide zone has been proposed for buses and commercial vehicles, while polluting cars will be subject to a city centre zone. The LEZ was originally due to be introduced this year but have been pushed back due to coronavirus.

Announcing a welcome £2.5m of funding for parking in the next year, TfL estimates that we need an additional 36,000 more on-street cycle parking spaces, on top of 145,000 existing ones, just to satisfy existing demand. But, , TfL then forecasts an additional requirement by 2025 of just 12,000 spaces even though the Mayor has a target of doubling cycle trips by 2026 from 720,000 to 1.5m. We don’t think this number of additional spaces is anywhere near sufficient to help meet the Mayor’s trip target, and LCC has asked TfL for an explanation of how the 12,000 figure was arrived. We’ll post the response here as soon as we get it.

From cars to bikes and buses
A key challenge councils must answer is just how much and how quickly should they get people out of their cars and onto bikes and buses? Especially since electric cars will soon become the norm and will be making significant contributions to cutting carbon emissions and some types of air pollution1. Undoubtedly some transport planners will be hoping that this means they won’t have to tackle car use. Unfortunately for them even conservative estimates of what is needed point to the need for some modal shift – a switch towards a more sustainable and less polluting form of transport.

The prime minister has vowed to “crack on” with road schemes designed to reduce the dominance of cars, despite a critical High Court ruling.

Last night Boris Johnson said that the government would push ahead with the expansion of “low-traffic neighbourhoods” while Greater Manchester’s “cycling tsar” said opposition to the schemes was driven by a “negative minority” and many concerns were either “unfounded or proven to be surmountable”.

Dozens of permanent schemes are now in development after the award of £175 million from the government in November. This includes wider pavements, new segregated cycle lanes and the closure of residential streets to through traffic. It followed £250 million in May for temporary changes to roads during the pandemic.

The New Road Rage is a podcast asking what’s got people so worked up about street changes benefiting pedestrians and cyclists.</p> <p>Each week, host Sarah Berry will be interviewing a different expert or individual with a stake in the game — from journalists to historians, and cyclists to black cab drivers — to try and find out where the new road rage comes from.</p> <p>Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and follow along on Twitter by following @NewRoadRage and @SarahJ_Berry Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sarah-berry3/message