The growth in social media, helmet cams and rise in viral videos has catapulted incidents between cyclists and drivers into the public eye.
The most recent published statistics show that, in 2016, 102 cyclists were killed on British roads, around 3,400 were seriously injured and there were around 15,000 other casualties.
Several organisations have been working together with Transport for London for some years to make our roads safer, leading to the creation of the Safe Urban Driving (SUD) course which was introduced in 2011.
Designed to reduce the number of accidents and injuries on our roads, SUD has steadily become an essential part of the driver’s professional competence training arsenal and, with media scrutiny bringing it sharper into focus, more companies than ever are ensuring their drivers participate in collectively reducing work-related risk.
National Standards Cycling Instructors are the only individuals qualified to deliver the cycling element of SUD, a 3.5 hour practical session, which allows drivers to ‘exchange places’ by spending a morning or afternoon on a bike out on the road. The aim is to enable them to better understand and anticipate cyclist behaviour.
TTC Cycling delivered more than 900 courses to 22,000 delegates across the UK in 2018 and this is expected to increase over the next few years.
Andrew Montgomery has been delivering SUD courses in and around the London area since 2012 – a notorious spot for incidents between drivers and cyclists.
