Is cycling safe enough to offer an alternative to other means of transport? To get more people on their bikes, road safety has to increase across Europe, according to traffic institute Vias
Figures show, that in 2016 228 cyclists died in traffic in the Netherlands (30% of the total) and in 2017 there were 20,800 serious traffic injuries, of which 13,000 were cyclists (64%).
In 2020, for the first time, more cyclists died than motorists: the number of cyclists killed rose from 203 in 2019 to 229 in 2020. Many more men crashed than women. Nobody knows the reason.
Much can still be improved by, for example, smart traffic lights for cyclists, although practice is more recalcitrant than it first appears: How long do you have to wait for the red light?
Here a film about smart traffic lights in Rotterdam
Simple technical adaptations to prevent 'dooring' and avoid accidents in the blind spot of lorries seem too expensive, because a human life cannot be expressed in money - and therefore costs nothing.
An app ban for cyclists, on the other hand, was a bargain - fines make money!
The figures in Belgium are a lot less unambiguous, but the trend is a decrease in the total number of traffic accidents and an increase in the share of cyclists: in 2016 81 compared to 670 (12%) and in 2018 89 compared to 604 (15%). source
In Flanders, the total number of road fatalities in 2018 was 310 compared to 588 in 2005, where the share of vulnerable road users (pedestrians and cyclists) in the total number of fatalities in 2018 was 36% - in 2005 it was 19%.
Both the Dutch Cyclists' Union and the Flemish Cyclists' Union have an online hotline, where cyclists can report dangerous situations to their municipality: