To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cyclists have died or suffered serious injuries where the cause has been attributed to poorly-maintained roads by (a) local councils, (b) Highways England, (c) Transport Scotland and (d) the Welsh Government in each year since 2007.

The numbers of reported cyclist fatalities and serious injuries that have been recorded in Great Britain for each year since 2007 where poorly maintained roads could be considered to be a contributory factor is provided in the table. A breakdown for all the road networks specified is not available centrally.

The heading “Poor or defective road surface” cover columns 2 and 3 of the table. Whilst, the heading “Inadequate or masked signs or road markings” cover column 4 and 5.

¹ Includes only casualties where a police officer attended the scene and in which a contributory factor was reported. In 2016, this related to 73% of reported accidents.

By way of context, cycling in Great Britain has increased over the time period in question, rising from 4 billion kilometres in 2007 to 6 billion kilometres in 2016.

It should be that noted that contributory factors assigned by police officers do not assign blame for the accident to any specific road user, however they do provide some insight into why and how road accidents occur. They give an indication of which factors the attending officer thought contributed to the accident. Officers do not need to carry out a full investigation of the incident before allocating contributory factors; they usually use professional judgement about what they can see at the scene.

Not all accidents are included in the contributory factor data; only accidents where the police attended the scene and reported at least one contributory factor are included. A total of 73% of accidents reported to the police in 2016 met these criteria although each accident can have multiple contributory factors attributed to them.

The numbers of reported cyclist fatalities and serious injuries that have been recorded in Great Britain for each year since 2007 where poorly maintained roads could be considered to be a contributory factor is provided in the table. A breakdown for all the road networks specified is not available centrally.

The heading “Poor or defective road surface” cover columns 2 and 3 of the table. Whilst, the heading “Inadequate or masked signs or road markings” cover column 4 and 5.

¹ Includes only casualties where a police officer attended the scene and in which a contributory factor was reported. In 2016, this related to 73% of reported accidents.

By way of context, cycling in Great Britain has increased over the time period in question, rising from 4 billion kilometres in 2007 to 6 billion kilometres in 2016.

It should be that noted that contributory factors assigned by police officers do not assign blame for the accident to any specific road user, however they do provide some insight into why and how road accidents occur. They give an indication of which factors the attending officer thought contributed to the accident. Officers do not need to carry out a full investigation of the incident before allocating contributory factors; they usually use professional judgement about what they can see at the scene.

Not all accidents are included in the contributory factor data; only accidents where the police attended the scene and reported at least one contributory factor are included. A total of 73% of accidents reported to the police in 2016 met these criteria although each accident can have multiple contributory factors attributed to them.