Icy weather keeping riders off bikes contributed to a 23 percent reduction in injured or killed cyclists between January and March 2013 compared to the same period in 2012, Department for Transport road casualty figures show today.
The statistical note said the temperature between January and March 2013 was almost 3°C colder than for the same period the previous year – the largest change in 30 years.
“It is therefore likely that the markedly colder weather in 2013 would have reduced the numbers of vulnerable road users (particularly pedal cyclists and motorcyclists) on the road, reducing their exposure to accidents,” says the DfT report.
However, longitudinal data stretching back to 2004 shows that occurrences of cyclists being killed or seriously injured in accidents (termed KSI figures) has been rising incrementally from 2,388 in 2004 to 3,158 in the first quarter of 2013.
Cycling still has the lowest number of reported KSI incidents among motorists (8,777 serious incidents), walkers (5,658) and motorcyclists (5,017) over the January to March 2013 period.