Potholes Causing Injuries And Deaths Among Cyclists

Wearing high visibility clothing when you’re cycling in the UK, especially if you’re out and about early in the morning or late in the evening, is advisable to help keep you safe, but there’s one thing that this kind of attire won’t protect against - potholes.

Damage to road surfaces is becoming a big problem for the UK’s cyclists, with new figures released by Cycling UK showing that 390 cyclists have been killed or seriously injured as a result of hitting a pothole while on their bike in the past decade.

What’s more, the organisation notes that the problem is getting worse, with 64 cyclists killed or seriously injured after hitting a pothole in 2016, compared to just 17 in 2007.

It’s going to cost an estimated £12 billion to repair all the defects in the roads around the country, but the government has allocated just half this amount to cover the expense of repairs.

Sam Jones, senior campaigns officer at the organisation, commented: “Cycling UK is incredibly concerned to see what is clearly a trend on the up showing more people being killed or seriously injured while cycling, all because our roads are in a shocking state.”

At the end of last year, transport minister Jesse Norman suggested that wearing hi-vis clothing and helmets could become mandatory for cyclists in the UK to improve their safety. However, the figures from Cycling UK would indicate that fixing road surfaces could be an equally worthwhile way of doing this.

The government is currently undertaking a cycle safety review, which is exploring everything from interactions between road users to cycling infrastructure and signage.