Written Answers to Questions - Northern Ireland Assembly

Friday 20 July 2012 Written Answers
Outside of the NSMC my officials continue to engage with their counterparts in the south on both
climate change mitigation and adaptation issues and officials from the south are invited to attend all
key stakeholder events.
The forthcoming Irish Presidency of the EU has recently resulted in a request for secondees from the
NICS to work for the Presidency in the area of climate change and this presents a further potential
opportunity for North/South co-operation.
Moreover, if renewable is the biggest environmental and economic opportunity the island has – and I
believe it is – the greater cohesion of energy policy, renewable industry, integrated supply opportunities
there is, the better for the island and its people.
Cyclist Road Deaths
Miss M McIlveen asked the Minister of the Environment what research his Department has carried
out, or commissioned, to address the causes of cyclist road deaths.
(AQW 13080/11-15)
Mr Attwood: The Road Safety Strategy outlines key challenges to be addressed over the period up to
2020 and contains a commitment to continuously explore road safety issues and develop new ways to
keep people safe on our roads.
To this end the Department has established a road safety research programme, involving road safety
partners, to help identify emerging trends and provide a sound knowledge base for developing future
policies. The programme, which is reviewed annually, includes ongoing statistical analysis, projects
carried out by partner organisations and assignments commissioned by DOE.
The Department maintains a problem profile, first produced as part of the development of the Road
Safety Strategy, which uses detailed trend data to explore key road safety issues. The most recent
paper, based on 2006-2010 data, indicates that cyclists accounted for 5 of the 516 people killed and
170 of the 5,225 people seriously injured over that period. This equates to 3% of all fatal and serious
road traffic casualties. The cyclist was responsible for the casualty in 39% of those cases. The most
common cause of cyclist deaths and serious injuries, where the cyclist was deemed responsible, was
inattention or attention diverted, the principal causation factor in 33% of those casualties. Overtaking
on the offside without care was the largest principal causation factor in collisions where the driver was
responsible (16%).
In 2011, there were two cyclist fatalities compared with none in 2010 and 2009. Cyclists accounted
for 47 serious injuries in 2011 compared with 49 in 2010 and 32 in 2009. At the time of writing, there
have been no cyclist deaths this year, compared with one at this point in 2011 and none in 2010.
Cyclists are a vulnerable road user group and the Road Safety Strategy contains a number of action
measures that relate specifically to cyclists’ safety.
The Department monitors progress towards the casualty reduction targets set out in the Road
Safety Strategy. It also tracks performance indicators, including monitoring cyclist casualty rates and
perceptions of the safety of cycling. This will improve our understanding of road casualty trends and
help us target interventions more effectively.
Monitoring of targets and performance indicators will be published as part of a Road Safety Strategy
Annual Report, the first of which is planned for publication by the end of the year.
The Department recently undertook a review of Road Safety Education Services and resources to
ensure that they appropriately address today’s road safety issues. This review recommended that the
Cycling Proficiency Scheme offered by the DOE’s Road Safety Education Officer Service be evaluated to
assess the benefits and impact of the programme, including a review of the content of the course and
methods of delivery to ensure these are up to date and fit for purpose.
WA 527