Cycling UK Forum

Just wondering, are there any statistics recording how many - if any - cyclists have been killed on the road riding LeJog.

If there are - and have been - none, then in spite of all the dire warnings of the reckless nature on drivers, riding LeJog may not be any more dangerous than riding on a vehicle-free bike trail.

There have certainly been multiple cycling LEJOG road deaths, reported on this forum in the past ten years. That doesnt mean that it is disproportionately dangerous though.

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=77575&hilit=LEJOG+death

There are plaques opposite the signpost at Land's End AIUI to commemorate those who died en route but I don't know if that is 100% accurate (the plaques are there) or whether the names are complete.

There is no definitive LEJOG route, so if someone selects a route carefully there is no reason why it should be any more dangerous than out-of-town road cycling in general. And I've been doing that for more than fifty years.

pwa wrote:And I've been doing that for more than fifty years.

I’m going to bet good money that we’ll be seeing more posts on this thread from people who have not been killed whilst riding a bicycle.

Bez wrote:

pwa wrote:And I've been doing that for more than fifty years.

I’m going to bet good money that we’ll be seeing more posts on this thread from people who have not been killed whilst riding a bicycle.

That must apply to quite a few of us.

I think there was a death from a collision between a biker and logging lorry earlier this year. The logging lorries that passed me did so in a considerate manner and I felt the dust they kicked up more threatening than the vehicle itself.

I suspect a better question might be do a disproportionate number of cyclists die, get injured, or injure themselves through 'challenges' whether externally or self-organised . I think the answer to that will be yes but it's not really a LEJOG topic.

Ben@Forest wrote:I suspect a better question might be do a disproportionate number of cyclists die, get injured, or injure themselves through 'challenges' whether externally or self-organised . I think the answer to that will be yes but it's not really a LEJOG topic.

A few years ago, I calculated that the Killed/Seriously Injured rate for RideLondon was roughly similar to that of cycling in Reported Road Casualties Great Britain. It looked higher at first (about double!) but some of the deaths have been from heart attacks which are excluded under RRCGB counting methods.

However, RideLondon is on closed roads, while motor vehicle collisions are the biggest killer of cyclists in RRCGB, so like B@F, I also suspect most high-mileage open-road challenges will have a disproportionately higher KSI rate.

You could estimate the LEJOG casualty numbers if you had full access (because the normal publication omits postcodes) to RRCGB by looking for collisions in the local authority areas along LEJOG involving cyclists from home postcodes not in the collision area and with a journey purpose of "other" or "not known." As well as that including unrelated cycle tourists, it would still need an estimate of how many people ride LEJOG and JOGLE each year to calculate a casualty rate. Seems pretty difficult to me.

charliepolecat wrote:Just wondering, are there any statistics recording how many - if any - cyclists have been killed on the road riding LeJog.

If there are - and have been - none, then in spite of all the dire warnings of the reckless nature on drivers, riding LeJog may not be any more dangerous than riding on a vehicle-free bike trail.

The first three that sprang to mind:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-23157100

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/woma ... 20636.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10575410

Thanks.

One aspect of being hit whilst cycling is that for the most part a cyclist isn't going to be seeing the vehicle before impact since the vehicle will be usually coming from behind and the rider will not be aware of the threat particularly if there is enough traffic noise to mask the sound.

One thing that keeps me safe - relatively - is that I listen for vehicles coming behind me and I can take precautions. Also, mostly riding solo - or or if in a group going single file - also helps since I can take avoiding action off the side of the road which may not be possible if riding in a group and being the rider on the outside.

I do feel that we have to ride defensively and fully aware when sharing the road with motor vehicles - Communicating and making eye contact with the driver when ever possible to let the driver know we know they are there and we expect them to keep us safe is an essential part of getting home alive.

charliepolecat wrote:Thanks.

One aspect of being hit whilst cycling is that for the most part a cyclist isn't going to be seeing the vehicle before impact since the vehicle will be usually coming from behind and the rider will not be aware of the threat particularly if there is enough traffic noise to mask the sound.

"Fear from the rear" is overblown. Most motorist-cyclist collisions are T-bones, left hooks, right crosses, sideswipes and doorings, plus about three-quarters are around junctions.

my ride last year was shortly after an end to ender was killed by a logging lorry in Scotland. I became very wary when I got to logging areas, but luckily I suffered more from the long trails of dust behind a lorry, than I did from close passes.
Twice, I moved into a lane designated for traffic turning left, only to be overtaken by traffic travelling straight on, both times I was hit by the nearside door mirror , and neither time did the car stop.

mjr wrote:
"Fear from the rear" is overblown. Most motorist-cyclist collisions are T-bones, left hooks, right crosses, sideswipes and doorings, plus about three-quarters are around junctions.

Do we have a link to prove this ?

Are the Home Office now sharing this Information. Unless it's an Injury / fatal accident recorded by the Police none of us know the exact circumstances and the majority of cycling accidents never see a police computer.

ossie wrote:

mjr wrote:
"Fear from the rear" is overblown. Most motorist-cyclist collisions are T-bones, left hooks, right crosses, sideswipes and doorings, plus about three-quarters are around junctions.

Do we have a link to prove this ?

No nice single national overview. https://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/d ... n-plan.pdf is the London summary and page 18 Table 2 (I think) has the collision types and the ones from other areas I've seen have been similar with mainly the order changing.

Are the Home Office now sharing this Information. Unless it's an Injury / fatal accident recorded by the Police none of us know the exact circumstances and the majority of cycling accidents never see a police computer.

They share it more than they used to, allowing highway authorities like TfL to summarise and report to road danger reduction groups and similar. The ¾ at junctions is from my local (Norfolk), but again, that's a figure that doesn't seem to vary that wildly.