Calls to make cycling safer in Chesterfield as figures reveal the number of serious injuries on town's roads

With official government data showing over 17,000 cyclists were injured or killed on the UK’s roads last year, including 10 in Chesterfield, a leading charity says safety is a key barrier to more people making the switch to cycling.

Figures from the Department for Transport (DfT) and Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) analysed by the JPIMedia Data Unit reveal 410 cyclists have been killed in the UK since 2016.

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While the overall number of casualties has fallen every year since 2016, the number seriously injured has increased by nine per cent.

In Chesterfield last year, four cyclists were seriously injured and six suffered minor injuries.

Alastair Meikle, secretary of the Chesterfield Cycle Campaign, said: “The number one reason given for people not to use bicycles more is fear of traffic, so our campaign has been lobbying for many years to increase the separate cycle (and pedestrian) infrastructure in and around the town.”

The campaign is hoping the Emergency Active Travel Fund, which has seen Derbyshire County Council awarded almost £1.7m, will create an east-west cycle route across the town to complement the north-south route from Dronfield to Tupton which is almost complete.

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Only incidents reported to police are included, while figures prior to 2016 cannot be compared as many police forces changed their definition of a serious injury.

Daisy Narayanan, director of urbanism at walking and cycling charity Sustrans, said safety is a key barrier to more people taking up cycling.

Ms Narayanan added: “In order to ensure cycling safety across the board, we need strong leadership in walking and cycling at the local level.

“Local authorities should work to create safer, better streets and places through the implementation of protected cycle routes and low traffic neighbourhoods, whilst taking into account the local context.”

The UK Government said it is investing billions to make cycling safer.

A spokesperson said: “We’re investing an unprecedented £2 billion to support cycling and walking over the next five years, including for safe, high-quality infrastructure, and proposing changes to The Highway Code to further protect cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders.”

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