It won\u2019t come as a surprise to anyone pedalling through London\u2019s streets of late, that it is more dangerous to cycle at rush hour on shared roads. But new research from University College London has offered more acute insight into this every-day truth.<\/p>\n
Researchers studied video and audio collected from 60 commuter cyclists<\/a> via a 360 degree GoPro<\/a> mounted to their helmets to map the types of near misses they and where they happened. Over 317 hours of recording, 94 near misses were captured. The most common type of near miss? Close overtakes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n During those busy – and more dangerous – commuter hours, the safest path to take is down a dedicated cycle lane, or shared off-road path. Nevertheless, \u201cwhere vehicles have to turn across the lane, or emerge from a side road and cross the cycle way conflict tends to happen,\u201d Dr James Haworth warned.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n The cyclists recruited for the study were told to shout \u201cnear miss\u201d when one happened, triggering a pattern in their recordings the researchers could flick to.<\/p>\n The researchers found that the majority of incidents \u2013 58 out of 94, or 62% \u2013 occurred during peak commuting hours, with 69 on roads without dedicated cycling infrastructure.<\/p>\n \u201cThe UK government generally uses casualty data to decide on targeting their priorities,\u201d Prof Nicola Christie said, explaining the importance in using their findings as precursors to serious accidents.<\/p>\n \u201cNear misses often resemble actual collisions \u2013 it’s a way of developing a kind of proactive safety culture around understanding cycling collisions and casualties.\u201d<\/p>\n As cycling in the last 10 years has risen (by 39% in Great Britain), the number of those killed on the roads has decreased by nearly as much, to 82 deaths in 2024. However, during this same period, the number of those seriously injured rose by 16%. These injuries could be for myriad reasons \u2013 pot holes,<\/a> collisions with pedestrians<\/a> or other cyclists \u2013 all incidents that often go unreported.<\/p>\n In understanding the factors that contribute to near misses, the researchers landed on several clear takeaways.<\/p>\n \u201cOur findings show that most near misses happen on roads without cycling infrastructure, and that junctions are particularly hazardous,\u201d Prof Christie said.<\/p>\n But their research also turned up new areas for future investigation.<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing that I find a little bit strange about cycling is that it is dominated by males,” Prof Christie said. “You think, ‘Well why are we not creating a cycling city that accommodates everybody?’ That’s something we need to ask and I think [it might be down to] the perceived safety of the infrastructure. I think we do need to understand a bit more about that with regard to the views of males and females.\u201d<\/p>\n A seasoned behavioural scientist, Prof Christie finds herself counting cyclists at junctions outside of work hours; how many men are there? How many women? Who are jumping red lights or biding their time until it runs green?<\/p>\n