Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Oxburgh (Crossbench). It was answered on Thursday, 14 December 2006.

Roads: Cyclists

Question: My Lords, I declare an interest as a regular and, I hope, fully illuminated and law-abiding cyclist. Does the Minister agree that the provision made for cyclists on this country’s roads is hopelessly inadequate compared to the provision made by some of our mainland European neighbours? Indeed, if the Government wish to encourage cycling both for health and for other reasons, serious attention should be paid to that deficiency.

Answer: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord and welcome him as a law-abiding cyclist, of which, I hasten to add, there are many in this House. Of course we want to ensure that cycling on our roads is safe, because we want to encourage cycling for all sorts of obvious reasons—not least with regard to our strategy on climate change. Many of our roads in inner cities are dangerous. We are creating cycle paths where we can, but it will be recognised that in many of our inner cities it can be very difficult to accommodate cyclists and drivers. That is why each has to have respect for the other.

Secondary information