Ministers 'to act on danger junctions' - Times Online

Ministers will study dangerous road junctions identified on The Times's interactive cycle map and investigate ways of improving them, the Transport Minister pledged today as the Government faced criticism for a lack of leadership on cycle safety.

Norman Baker, the minister responsible for cycling, said that he and Mike Penning, the Road Safety Minister, would look at improving any junctions on the strategic road network after more than 10,000 stretches of road were highlighted as unsafe by cyclists and drivers.

Mr Baker was speaking after an inquiry into road safety by MPs on the Commons Transport Select Committee today which heard claims that Government was failing to protect cyclists.

Jon Snow, the Channel 4 newsreader, told the committee: "There is no leadership from Government on cycling at all, it is a completely neglected area."

He added that cyclists represented "the largest body of British citizens for whom there is no one in charge and no provision". James Harding, Editor of The Times, also gave evidence, telling the Committee that David Cameron should take steps to ensure that cities are rebuilt to promote safer cycling, as has happened in other European countries.

"At the moment our cities are not fit for cyclists. They are dangerous for cyclists. We need to build new roads and pathways and we have got to rethink our cities in much the same way that we have seen in a few really wonderful cities in Europe," Mr Harding said.

"I think the Prime Minister should engage with this issue. He has been very supportive in terms of what he has said about the cycling campaign, what we actually want to see is that there is some one in Downing Street making sure that warm words are translated into action."

The Times "Cities Fit for Cycling" campaign is calling for urban landscapes to be redrawn to encourage safe cycling and reverse a rise in the rate of cyclists killed in Britain. Launched in February, the campaign comes after a Times journalist, Mary Bowers, was knocked off her bike in November. She remains in hospital with serious injuries.

Criticising what he described as an "adversarial road system" that sets different road users in competition against each other, Mr Harding agreed with Mr Snow that painted cycle lanes were not enough to protect cyclists on junctions and dangerous roads.

The author Josie Dew, a spokesman for the CTC cycling organisation who has cycled extensively round the world, added that speeding drivers and poor enforcement of speed limits on rural roads were a key issue for cyclists outside cities and called for an extension of 20mph speed limits in residential zones.

Mr Baker later faced questions from the same committee, and acknowledged that "there is a problem going back decades in this country" in terms of road design. He said that from the 1960s to 1980s "roads were designed for motorists and eveyone else had to be pushed out of the way".

Their comments came after cyclists and drivers highlighted at least 4,010 junctions, 2,778 stretches of badly designed road, 1,453 poorly built cycle lanes and 1,360 roads afflicted by dangerous pot holes via an interactive map on the Times website.

Many of the most frequently cited blackspots were big urban roundabouts where major A-roads converge and enter city centres.

Mr Baker said that he would study the data and would encourage Mr Penning to consider improvements on any trunk road crossings.

"I agree with you that there is a particular problem with roundabouts of that nature. I think what we are doing is identifying how best to deal with those sorts of roundabouts and those sorts of generic problems and indicating to local authorities how best they might approach it," he said.

The minister said it would be inappropriate for central Government to dictate the best design for specific junctions on the local road network. However, he said: "We are certainly happy to look again at what we are saying to local councils in terms of best practice and how they can best design road infrastructure, particularly for cyclists."

Mr Penning warned that there was insufficient funding for wholescale improvements around the country. "We do not have the money to go out and rip everything out," he said.

The issue of training for both cyclist and drivers was raised as a concern by many of the 775 people who submitted questions for the ministers on Twitter.

Mr Penning said that work on revising the driving test was an "ongoing" process, but added that he would not make it compulsory for haulage firms and bus companies to train their drivers on cycle awareness because "we must not take responsibility away from the driver".

He also refused to commit to targets to reduce fatalities on Britain's streets because "the Government is not a fan of targets".

Cycling organisations and bloggers later criticised Mr Penning for claiming that the Netherlands – a country seen as a beacon worldwide on cycle safety – could learn from Britain in reducing deaths.

The minister quoted figures showing that four times as many cyclists per 100,000 people are killed in the Netherlands as in Britain.

But Chris Peck, policy coordinator at CTC, said that the minister had failed to take into account the far greater number of people cycling in the Netherlands.

"I think he is just very confused. He has just got the wrong figures," Mr Peck said.

On Dutch streets, there are 1.1 deaths for every 100 million km cycled. In Britain, the figure is more than three times higher, at 3.6 deaths per 100 million km cycled.