NI Conservatives’ spokesman, Trevor Ringland, has welcomed the fact that 2012 was the safest year on record on Northern Ireland’s roads, but he urged the relevant agencies to remain vigilant and look at ways to make cycling safer.
“While every death on the road is tragic, it is extremely welcome that fatalities have been falling steadily in recent years”, Trevor remarked. “That’s down to a lot of hard work from the relevant agencies and the police, who are doing a good job. Unfortunately, as a cyclist, I know that people on bikes are among the most vulnerable road users and I think this is one area where we could do more to foster tolerance, understanding and safety on the roads.”
“Cycling is growing in popularity after the amazing achievements of UK cyclists in 2012, it gets people fitter and it is kind to the environment. We ought to be making more space for bikes on our roads, but unfortunately the relationship between drivers and cyclists is not good. I’d like to see a forum to look into issues around cycling: how to create more cycle routes which take bikes off busy roads, how to foster a more tolerant atmosphere between cyclists and other roads users and how to make roads safer for cycling”.