29% increase in cycling accidents? Really?

It's basically bullshit..

From Ealing Cycling:

Credit crunch brings chaos to the roads
Some rather sloppy reporting from the Independent caused a storm in the cycling world when they reported that financial pressure is forcing people to cycle and causing a big rise in cycling accidents.

'Financial pressure to ditch cars for bikes could be the cause of the big rise in cycling accidents, it was revealed today.

''There has been a 29% increase in road accidents involving cyclists in the last six months, according to figures from insurance company LV.

''It said that the switch from four wheels to two had led to many inexperienced cyclists taking to the road and a lack of formal cycling training may have contributed to the accident tally.

'A survey by the company showed 52% of cyclists had never read the Highway Code's advice for cyclists and only 42% had taken a cycling proficiency course.

'Also, 42% fail to wear a safety helmet, 41% cycle on the pavement, a third have cycled the wrong way up a one-way street and 6% have cycled under the influence of drink or drugs, with the same number using mobile phones while on the road.

'LV Car Insurance spokeswoman Emma Holyer said: "Cycling is a cheap and enjoyable way to get from A to B and great exercise at the same time but it's essential that cyclists are fully equipped to deal with the busy British roads to ensure their own safety and that of other road users.

"If cycling training was compulsory, and cyclists were better equipped to follow the rules of the roads we believe motorists, pedestrians and cyclists themselves would all benefit from fewer accidents and a safer environment on the road."'

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/credit-crunch-cyclists-causing-chaos-on-roads-1419070.html

This was despite the fact that the CTC have already put out a press release refuting the LV claims:

'Cheap PR stunt demonises cyclists 15/01/2009

'CTC – the UK’s national cyclists’ organisation has completely refuted claims by car insurance company LV that “inexperienced cyclists taking to the roads in the last 6 months have resulted in a 29% increase in road accidents involving cyclists”. The figure appears to be no more than the difference in casualty numbers for cyclists between summer and winter. LV’s estimate of the number of collisions involving cyclists is over 9 times higher than official figures and is based on a serious miscalculation of the number of cyclists in Britain. CTC has dismissed the figure as nothing more than a scaremongering publicity stunt.

Roger Geffen, CTC’s Campaigns and Policy Manager, said: “This is Mickey Mouse research and flies in the face all official published statistics on cycling. There is plenty of evidence showing that cycling gets safer the more cyclists there are. In London there has been a 91% increase in cycle use on the capital’s main roads since 2000, and a 33% reduction in cycle casualties in roughly the same period”.

'He added: “CTC has been researching cycle safety for over a century. Manipulating statistics for a PR stunt wastes the time of the people
who took part in the survey. By demonising cyclists and scaring people into staying in their cars, it also undermines the efforts of charities like CTC to encourage more cycling and improve road safety for all”.

'Singling out cyclists as a law-breaking group is discriminatory and serves only to create aggression and conflict between road users.
This is highly irresponsible behaviour for an insurance company professing to care about road safety.

The CTC are asking people to contact their Right to Ride department ([COLOR=#1E66AE]righttoride@ctc.org.uk[/COLOR]) if they see the story in local papers.