London cyclists have the worst relationship with drivers, finds survey
Posted on in Cycles News
Car leasing company Cars on Demand ran a survey of 2,000 drivers and cyclists in the UK to get an idea of what their relationships are really like.
The survey asked how they would rank their relationship with each other out of 10 - with 10 being the most harmonious and zero being the least.
A spokesman said: "When asked how they would rank their relationship with the each other out of 10 - ten being the most harmonious, and one being the least - the drivers seemed to think things were much rosier than the cyclists did.
"On average, British drivers ranked their relationship with cyclists as a fairly healthy 6.1/10. However, the cyclists weren't quite so reciprocal, rating their relationship with drivers at a lowly 4.8."
London came out with the worst overall drivers/cyclists relationships. Their combined average was just 4.5.
On the other end of the scale, East Midlanders appear to have the most harmonious relationship on the roads averaging a score of 6/10.
The spokesman added: "While there is a clear disparity between the relationships of drivers and cyclists, the survey did find that three quarters (74.4%) of drivers in the UK do empathise with cyclists and the frustrations that they must feel on the roads, perhaps when someone overtakes too closely, or brakes suddenly without seeming to see a cyclist in their mirror.
"Cyclists are in agreement with the drivers here too, with 65.2% stating that they empathise with the frustrations of drivers on the roads when they come across someone on their bike."
The survey also found that just 16.4% of Brits would actually feel confident cycling around a town or road in the UK if they did not know the area, and just one in ten Brits would feel confident cycling around a town or city abroad.
When it comes to road rage, 39% of drivers said they had got angry with a cyclist on the road and more than half of drivers believe that laws should be passed which require cyclists to have insurance to ride Britain's roads.