At last, cyclists and motorists agree: cycling is dangerous

The vast majority of motorists (80 per cent) and cyclists (74 per cent) consider cycling to be "dangerous", according to the latest Road Safety Authority report, Driver Attitudes and Behaviour 2014.

According to the responses, however, 38 per cent of cyclists say they do not always wear a helmet, while 31 per cent do not always wear reflective gear.

Some 20 per cent of cyclists said they never wear a helmet, while one in 10 said they never wear reflective gear. The survey found one in five cyclists never wears a helmet.

Safety-gear compliance was generally stronger among older cyclists. Key factors behind not wearing helmets were the inconvenience of carrying it when out, while 13 per cent felt it ruined their hair.

Main form of transport

Just over one in five males said cycling was their main form of transport, compared with 9 nine per cent of females. Cycling was the main form of transport for 25 per cent of those aged under 24, and 18 per cent of those under 34.

Some 27 per cent of motorists said cycling was “very” dangerous, compared with just 18 per cent of cyclists.

Just 12 per cent described car driving as very dangerous, and 10 per cent claimed walking was very dangerous. Just 2 per cent found public transport to be very dangerous.

However, the most dangerous form of transport identified by the survey was motorcycling, with 60 per cent of respondents describing it as “very dangerous”.

A further 32 per cent described motorcycling as “fairly dangerous”.

Almost 60 per cent of motorcyclists forgo some form of additional training or instruction after buying a motorcycle.