Time For More High-Vis Clothing In Wrexham And Flintshire?
Wrexham and Flintshire may not be the first places to spring
to mind when you think about cycling, but according to the latest figures from
the Welsh government they are the counties with the highest number of cycling
accidents in North Wales.
The Leader reported on the data from 2015, which
showed that 36 cyclists were killed or injured in Wrexham, while in Flintshire
the number was 31. This puts the North Wales counties third and fourth in Wales
as a whole, behind only Cardiff and Swansea.
Both regions also saw an increase in the number of cycling
casualties recorded compared to 2014.
Wearing high visibility clothing while cycling around
Wales could help those on two wheels improve their safety and ensure drivers
can see them no matter what time of day it is.
However, across Wales as a whole there has been a fall in
the number of cyclists being injured and killed on the roads. 509 cycling
casualties were reported in 2015, compared to 567 the year before.
A spokesman for the Welsh government told the newspaper that
while they are pleased with the progress being made on cycling safety, they
want to see this figure fall further but noted legislation alone won’t fix the
problem.
“Government cannot do this alone, we all share a
responsibility to ensure that we use our roads safely,” he asserted.
There are cycling safety campaigners all over the UK, and
one of the most dedicated is 89-year-old Janet Slade, who hands out high visibility jackets to cyclists
in Cambridge and gives them advice to make them safer no matter what time of
day they’re out on the roads.
Written by Ad Rank One at 18/04/2017