Anti-cycling focus and risk management

In recent discussions of how to improve road safety and increase cycling I’ve heard plenty of stupid suggestions from people in positions of power who really should know better. The Commons Transport Committee springs to mind (props to Chris Boardman for his excellent response). So I’m surprised that I haven’t seen the risk control hierarchy run out as an argument for investing in decent infrastructure, focussing on the source of risk and generally avoiding babbling on about helmets and hi-viz.

Well, quite. From a strict risk management perspective, the risk (cyclists being struck by a vehicle) is not actually addressed by the thing most often offered up in 'mitigation', helmet wearing.

While high visibility clothing might be a form of risk mitigation in some circumstances, as you correctly identify it's very much a last line of defence, and effectively an admission that the risk has not been controlled. Neither would hi viz do anything at all to address the one risk that is at least partly addressed by helmets (head injuries caused in otherwise low speed falls).

It's basically all a symptom of a refusal to actually consider the real nature of the problem.