Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Marsh (Crossbench). It was answered on Tuesday, 26 February 2008.

Cyclists: Road Accidents

Question: My Lords, does the Minister agree—I will understand if he would not dare do so—that in addition to cyclists running into lorries there is the serious problem of pedestrians being hit by cyclists?

Answer: My Lords, that is an issue about which noble Lords appear to be particularly exercised. The last time we had a short discussion on this topic, a number of noble Lords said the same thing. Yes, of course, we have occasional instances of pedestrians being hit by cyclists, but it is profoundly the case that pedestrians are most at risk from cars. Sadly, cases of pedestrians being hit by cars in any given year generate a lot of fatalities—last year, there were some 471—although, thankfully, those numbers are coming down. The number of pedestrians who are injured by cyclists is very small. I think that there were 47 recorded incidents in which there was some form of injury.

Secondary information