Number of cyclists treated for serious injuries doubles

Dangerous: The number of cyclists being seriously injured is soaring

The number of seriously injured cyclists being treated in London hospitals is soaring, official figures have revealed.

They show twice as many riders are being admitted for treatment as six years ago. The biggest rises were in Kensington and Chelsea, Wandsworth, Camden, Kingston and Havering.

The figures prompted calls for a better cycling network and a clampdown on rogue road users. They also suggest there is under-reporting to and by the police of serious injury accidents involving bicycles.

Dr Tim Crayford, president of the Association of Directors of Public Health and a campaigner for better cycling routes in London, said: " Without changes to the infrastructure and design of the roads, if you are going to get twice as many cyclists you are going to get twice as many seriously injured cyclists.

"These statistics really make the case for a dedicated network of joined-up cycle and pedestrianised routes across the capital." Cases of cyclists admitted to hospital jumped from 422 in 2000/01 to 819 in 2006/07. Figures were provided by 26 of the 31 primary care trusts in the capital.

For children under 16, the number rose from 145 to 184, and for under-11s it went from 70 to 75.

In Kensington and Chelsea, cycling casualties increased from 38 to 69; in Wandsworth from 43 to 84; in Kingston from 23 to 55; in Havering from 11 to 48; and in Camden from 22 to 53.

Tory health spokesman for London, Mike Penning, called for tougher enforcement of traffic laws to tackle rogue cyclists as well as dangerous motorists.

"The last thing we want is to see our accident and emergency departments filled with cyclists. We need to protect them but they also need to adhere to the law," he said. The statistics do not include the estimated thousands of riders who are treated in A&E units but not admitted to hospital.

They also differ from the official police total of 373 seriously injured cyclists in 2006.

Studies show police figures on cycling casualties, which have fallen, are significantly below those for hospital admissions. This may be down to people not calling the police, officers underestimating injury severity, or better recording by doctors.

Transport for London said the number of cyclists had soared by 83 per cent since 2000, with at least 480,000 bike journeys a day in the capital.

A spokesman said: "Road casualty figures provided by the police are the most reliable. Last year there was a 31 per cent reduction in the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured in the capital compared with the mid to late Nineties."

Cases of cyclists admitted to hospital in London primary care trust areas after an accident
  2000/01 2006/07
Wandsworth 43 84
Kensington & Chelsea 38 69
Kingston 23 55
Camden 23 53
Southwark 26 44
Havering 11 48
Lambeth 34 40
Hammersmith & Fulham 23 39
Sutton and Merton 33 39
Walthamstow, Leytonand Leytonstone (now broadly Waltham Forest) 16 37
Barnet 12 34
Islington 22 32
Croydon 26 26
Hillingdon 7 22
Newham 9 21
Bromley 10 13
Greenwich 10 13
Hounslow 9 12
Westminster 17 12
Enfield - 10
Ealing 10 8
Lewisham - 7
Bexley 6 6
* Not all PCTs are included and some have changed their name and area they cover.

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