Accidents quadruple on the cycle lane hailed by Boris Johnson

Serious crashes involving cyclists have quadrupled on a cycle route hailed by Boris Johnson as proof that low-traffic neighborhoods (LTNs) work.

The route through Chiswick and Hammersmith in west London saw eight cyclists requiring lengthy hospital treatment after suffering serious injuries last year, although only two a year were seriously injured in the three years before the introduction of the way.

Meanwhile, 19 cyclists suffered minor injuries in 2022, nearly double the average of nine people with minor injuries from 2017 to 2019 when there was no separate bike lane.

It is the first time that a full year of crash data, collated by Transport for London (TfL), has been released since the track was fully opened. It allowed a direct comparison with the statistics of the time when there were no cycle paths.

The marked increase in serious and minor injuries has renewed calls for improvements to the two-mile bike path.

Although the route has seen an increase in the number of cyclists using it, the data suggests that key junctions where vehicles cross the lane have become accident blackspots.

One of the worst accidents happened in October last year, when an air ambulance was dispatched to Chiswick to take a seriously injured woman to a major trauma center after her bike got under the wheels of a truck.

A serious injury is classified as requiring a long period of hospitalization with injuries such as broken or crushed bones, internal injuries, severe cuts, and concussion. A minor injury includes whiplash and cuts.

Bidirectional section

Road safety campaigners have expressed concern that the two-way section of the lane on King Street in Hammersmith – where cyclists travel in both directions despite the road being one-way for motorists – presents challenges for cyclists.

Simon Munk, from the London Cycling Campaign, said that although the figures had to be weighed against any increase in the number of users of the route, the increase in serious injuries only underscores that the councils and TfL must urgently examine some of these junctions to avoid further collisions.

In 2021, Mr Johnson, then Prime Minister who championed LTNs, wrote the foreword to a report in which he celebrated his radical transport policy insisting that it created safe spaces for the cyclists.

The 39-page document praised the Chiswick section of the cycleway saying TfL data showed up to 2,700 people use it a day.

Shortly after, the Telegraph carried out a points tally which revealed that only 1,026 cyclists, less than half the number quoted in the report, used the route on this occasion.

Helen Cansick, TfL’s Healthy Streets Investment Manager, said she was monitoring the route closely, adding that there was not yet enough data to draw reliable conclusions.

She insisted that their robust cycle count data showed the introduction of the lane had led to an increase in the number of cyclists using it.

It is a safe cycle path

We are closely monitoring all new bike lanes and will continue to work with the borough to implement any necessary changes, she said.

A spokeswoman for Hounslow Council, which covers the Chiswick section of the route, said the lane had undergone road safety audits which show it is a safe cycle route.

A Hammersmith and Fulham Council spokesperson said the safer King Street cycle route is hugely popular with between 1,500 and 2,800 people using it.

He stressed that safety is a top priority, adding: We will continue to work with TfL to monitor the route and make further improvements for pedestrians, motorists and cyclists.

A spokesman for One Chiswick, a local group fighting the cycle lane amid fears it is causing traffic jams and being unsafe, said: The cycle lane has proven to be more dangerous than us did not fear it. Serious accidents are multiplied by four. According to guidance and TfL, the selected data cycle only increased by 25%. Thus, serious collisions are much higher than they should be given the paltry increase in the number of lane users.