Cycle Accident Helpline | 0800 756 9708

The increased use of in car gadgets, hands free phones, Sat Navs and digital music systems are being blamed for an increase in accidents on the UK's roads.

The rate of accidents involving death or serious injury had been on the decline for the previous 3 years, but in the 12 months to September there was a 4% increase, reaching almost 25000.
Incidents involving cyclists showed the biggest increase, with 3500 accident involving death or serious injury, an increase of 8%.
Officials suggested that the increase was driven by a rise in the number of cars taking to the road over the past 12 months.
The RAC have suggested that many motorists are becoming distracted by the sheer number of gadgets installed on the dashboard of new vehicles. Its own polling has shown that mobile phones are a 'major source of distraction' for more than a quarter of their drivers - rising to 40% among those in their late 20s.
In all 1730 fatalities were recorded in the 12 month period, up by 1%. 24360 people were involved in accidents resulting in death or serious injury, a rise of 5%, and there were 192910 casualties of all types, a rise of 5%.
This is only the third time in 30 years that the number of deaths and serious injuries had increased.

If you have suffered an injury as a result of a road accident that was not your fault, speak to Cycle Accident Helpline - the No Win No Fee experts - today for a no obligation chat.
Help is only a click or call away.

The international CES is a global electronics and consumer technology tradeshow that takes place every January in Las Vegas.
This year a couple of cycle products have caught the attention of The Times.
They have highlighted a 'smart' pedal that helps to trace bicycle thieves. The pedal houses a GPS tracker and a SIM card that work together to alert the owner to an attempted theft - or to the whereabouts of a stolen bike.
The aluminium pedal is also able to track speed, distance and calorie count over the course of a bike ride, and send this data to the cyclist's smartphone.
The pedal requires no batteries because it generates its own power from kinetic energy absorbed during a ride.

The pedal has been developed by French company Connected Cycle  - and the pedal prevents tampering by thieves as it can only be removed with a special key.
The company website can be found here: http://connectedcycle.com/
Also highlighted was a concept bicycle helmet developed by Volvo, designed to make city cycling safer. The helmet links with a rider's smartphone app that transmits their location to nearby vehicles fitted with the company' City Safety system.
This warns drivers when a cyclist is nearby, and warns cyclists when they are in a driver's blind spot.
It also analyses the routes of both vehicle and bike, and predict when an accident is about to happen. It can automatically apply the car's brakes and illuminate a warning light inside the cyclist's helmet to avert a collision.
Fortunately there does seem to be a lot of research going into cycle safety - specifically related to HGV's, as the Volvo product does seem to be attempting to tackle the same problem as the British Cycle Alert. cyclealert.com
It is good to see that the world of Tech is concentrating on the everyday issues faced by cyclists - as well as the design and development at the elite level.