Cyclist casualties almost double in Yorkshire district that hosted Tour de France

Quick question... Do North Yorkshire constabulary run a close pass initiative as pioneered by West Midlands. Or are they one of the anti cycling forces?

I can't believe this keeps needing to be spelt out; without accounting for changes in unit exposure (e.g. total hours cycled) absolute casualty numbers are MEANINGLESS.

How many of the deaths are at fault motorists, how much did cycling increase/decrease?

Even finding out cause of death and what the serious injuries were and type of cyclist/roads they are on is important.

Given the background drop of all KSIs (which takes into account the rise in cyclist KSIs) this points to well over a 100% increase in KSIs of people on bikes, I'd say that was significant whichever way you look at it even if the underlying number is intself not high. We're not talking about an area that has a it may be a low number but try telling that to the families.

As for hazards, people both in motor and on bike go too fast for the conditions, too fast when they have no idea what's around the next bend, don't know how the surface condition might be, aren't looking out for potential hazards.

Sadly this is becoming more prevalent for people on bikes, taking risks when it's nice out, failing to understand why the rule go at a speed you can stop well within the distance you can see to be clear is just as important for self presevation for people on bikes as it is for motorists to keep others safe.

It's also significant that the 34 KSI for the whole of North Yorkshire in 2005 was a tiny figure, this rises massiveoy to 186 (avg) from 2011 to 2013 which is a 500% increase,  with 246 for the 3 years 2014/15/16, another near 40% increase, is this purely conincidence (as it always seems to be elsewhere) that the rises just happen to be after a certain cycling organisation made a piece of attire compulsary and many weekend warriors followed suit?

If we are talking safety in numbers then it doesn't seem to work anywhere where this attire is demanded and/or pushed.

The absolute numbers are low, so percentage figures are not that meaningful. Nevertheless it's good if NYCC is taking it seriously. (In general, they have no idea about cycling).

Richmondshire has some lovely roads, and I stick to the very quietest, most minor ones where possible. Go onto a rural B-road, and many are quite busy, with a significant percentage of drivers who haven't got a clue. Blind bend? Never mind, overtake. Blind rise? The same. Oncoming traffic? Never mind, I'll just leave less space.

I don't think warning signs at hazardous locations will change a lot. It needs a proper nationwide, government-led education campaign, so people know how to drive around cyclists. NOT one of these 50-50 'let's all be nice to each other' efforts. And it has to be backed up with proper enforcement.

Finally, for all the wallies who rattle on about licence plates for bikes, to make them accountable like car drivers, the reality is that drivers of vehicles are not held accountable due to their registration numbers. They do their crap overtake, then they're off, and you probably never see them again. If people had to have a face-to-face conversation with those bike riders they cut up, their actions would be very different.