Cycling accident hotspots named

T junctions and roundabouts are where majority of crashes occur

Junctions in Dundee, Dunfermline and Perth have been named among the top 20 cycling “collision hotspots” in Scotland.

Sustainable travel campaigners put together the list of locations by looking at areas which had a relatively high number of collisions, compared to the amount of cycling activity, between 2005 and 2014.

The organisation also took into account the severity of cyclist causalities at each location and weighted this in the results.

Sustrans Scotland is calling for improved cycling infrastructure at junctions, after the research revealed that roundabouts and T junctions are the main hotspots.

The B959/Robertson Street in Dundee, Glasgow Road Viewlands Road junction in Perth and A823/Laburnum Road roundabout, Dunfermline, are identified as the worst in Tayside and Fife.

University Road West/Hermitage Road, Stirling, is also listed.

Out of the 20 locations, the research found that 19 of the incidents occurred at a junction or within 20 metres of one.

Roundabouts appeared frequently, in eight of the 20 hotspot locations, while seven of the locations were at T or staggered junctions.

The findings, published by Sustrans’ Scottish Research Programme, will be presented at the conference in Glasgow on Wednesday.

John Lauder, Sustrans Scotland national director said: “Safety is often cited as the main reason why people don’t cycle for more of the journeys they make every day.

“This research highlights the importance of having high quality cycling infrastructure in place at junctions, so that collisions can be prevented.

“We know that better cycle infrastructure increases the feeling of safety and ultimately the number of people on bikes.”