Problem is, that’s how you’re taught. If you mince around everywhere at 20mph on your driving test, you’ll fail due to a ‘failure to make progress’.

It’s not how you’re taught – you’ll also fail if you take a NSL blind bend at 60mph.

you’ll also fail if you take a NSL blind bend at 60mph.

True, however I’m not sure how it was on your test, but mine was a bimble through some residential streets then a blast up a couple of junctions on a (nice straight) dual carriageway.

No bendy rural NSL.

(and no Motorway either obviously, which is another bugbear of mine)

True, however I’m not sure how it was on your test, but mine was a bimble through some residential streets then a blast up a couple of junctions on a (nice straight) dual carriageway.

No bendy rural NSL.

Actually, there was a NSL road. My instructor had taught me to accelerate up to near the limit on the straight bit, and slow down for the corner. It would seem that a few people have trouble with the slowing down bit, as the whole section is now designated 40mph.

A rise of 12% over a period of ten years doesn’t explain a 16% rise in the number of serious accidents in one year.
This years rise can’t simply be dismissed as “more people cycling”

Yeah, but stats being stats, there’s more to it I suspect

Where did the deaths happen, in cities ? (110% rise in London cycling – presumably very much dominated by on-road)

I’ll also wait a year or two and I bet we see regression to the mean in numbers (unless that’s what this latest figure already is, after a good spell)

Don’t get me wrong – I do not in any way think current, past, or any, level of fatalities is acceptable but I don’t believe “the end of the war on motorists” is involved causally

Whether the limits are targets or not is by the by, unfortunately that’s how they’re commonly perceived.

Round by me, no-one perceives the limits at all, they just drive at whatever speed they feel like. Until they see a speed camera or van, then they slam on the brakes because they have no idea what speed they were supposed to be doing.

Some interesting analysis of the cycling injury figures from the CTC, including some pretty graphs:

http://beta.ctc.org.uk/blog/chris-peck/16-increase-in-serious-injuries-so-whats-happening

The “more people cycling” argument doesn’t seem to account for all of it, given that injuries fell sharply as cycling increased between 1996 and 2004:

“The graph above shows cycle use and casualties, indexed (ie, turned into percentages) based on three year averages, starting in 1996.”