This map shows all the bike accidents recorded in Oxford over 20 years

Data compiled by the cycle route journey planner, Cycle Streets, revealed that between 1999 and 2020 there had been 3,345 cycling collisions in the city - 10 of them fatal.

The city centre saw 468 collisions over the same period - two of them fatal. There were 213 collisions on the Cowley Road and 101 on the High Street, with one fatal accident on each. 

The interactive map, called ‘Bike Data’, covers the whole of the UK.

The data has been collected from a combination of figures from the Department for Transport and statistics from Police.Uk.

Cycle Networks 'Bike Data' map reveals the number of crashes taking place in Oxford over the past twenty years.

Across Oxford hundreds of collisions have been recorded – with most incidents being categorised in the ‘serious/slight’ (colour-coded pink) or ‘serious category’ (colour-coded purple).

Over the 20 years between 2000 and 2020, however, 10 fatalities across the city were recorded.

Fatal car crash sites in Oxford.

Since the data was recorded, there have been two further cyclists’ deaths in Oxford.

Samantha-Sue Blackborow, 35, died on the roadside of Horspath Driftway on the morning of November 3 2020 following a crash with a bin lorry.

Less than 12 months later, another woman, Jennifer Wong, aged 32, who worked at Oxford Brookes University, was killed in a collision with an HGV-mounted crane at the junction of Headley Way and London Road.

Cyclists in the city are now saying that more needs to be done to make the streets safer for those wanting to walk or bike around Oxford.

Danny Yee, who is the director of Oxfordshire Liveable Streets, an active travel campaign group: “The worst problem is junctions – the last three fatalities in junction were women killed by large vehicles at junction.

“This map shows that major road junctions, like the Plain, and minor road junctions like Divinity Road, are where these collisions happen, and they are the obvious places that need to be improved.

“Main road junctions are really hard to do, because they can rebuild to make room for cyclists but that’s expensive and requires lower traffic volume.”

Bike accidents on the Plain and its arterial roads

Emily Kerr is a mum of four, who ditched her car last year in favour of active travel, said more needs to be done to allow children to cycle safely in Oxford.

She said: “Taking the kids to and from school, on bicycles and walking, is just quite dangerous at the moment.

“I am a parent at school where there are two different sites, they are about 500 meters away from each other and we have to navigate the traffic.

“We need to make it less easy to drive and easier to cycle, so more people are able to cycle to school and work safely.”

Ms Kerr hopes that the council will launch more ‘school street’ initiatives over the coming years, which means certain school roads are closed to traffic during drop-off and pick-up time.

Oxfordshire County Councillor, Damian Haywood, added: “One of the best and safest things you can do as a cyclist is complete separation from motorised traffic.

“That is fundamentally the best thing you can do, nothing else has any real evidence to suggest it works, the obligatory use of helmets or high vis has been proven not to work and put people off cycling, because if you actually demand people to do these sorts of things, it actually gives people the impression you are ‘going out to battle’ with motorised traffic and puts people off.

“So by far the safest thing to encourage more cyclists and make cycling safer is complete separation of mortised traffic from bicycles and pedestrians – this is what the council is trying to do with the quickways.”

The county council is currently carrying out several different initiatives to proactively help those who cycle and walk across the city – one of the main aims of these schemes is to make roads safer.

This includes reducing the speed limit of major roads in the city to 20mph to make urban streets safer and creating ‘cycle quickways’.

The ‘quickways’ will allow for cyclists to get into the city faster using direct routes, however, the cycle lanes will be segregated from main-road traffic.

It is hoped that this 1.5m difference between motor vehicles and cyclists will create the roads safer for everyone.

Further to this the council is seeking to ‘drastically reduce traffic’ through schemes such as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, that wi that are being trialled in East Oxford and Cowley, as well as the new Zero Emissions Zone, that will charge all polluting vehicles who enter certain parts of the city centre by February.

A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: “The Road Safety Unit, alongside our partners from Oxfordshire Council and Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, conduct engagement operations in order to educate both motorists and cyclists on how to be visible during hours of darkness and allowing a safe distance when passing people who are riding bicycles. Further operations are being planned for this year.

“In addition, from tomorrow there are new rules in the Highway Code that give a greater focus on the most vulnerable road users. By following these rules and taking extra care, users (everyone) can help make the roads safer.”