Sir – As a woman cyclist I want to know why roads in Oxfordshire can’t be made safer for us. Cycling in the city of Oxford is reasonably easy, but cycling in villages and market towns in the rest of Oxfordshire is a real hit-and-miss affair and unsafe.
Trying to cycle from Steventon to Wantage or Abingdon and on into Oxford, which I would like to do frequently, is so intimidating for parts of the routes that I just don’t do it very often. My heart goes out to those brave souls who commute by bike on these roads. Even cycling to the shops on the main road in Steventon can be a very frightening affair with cars and lorries often being inconsiderate and the edges of the roads so poorly maintained.
No wonder more women don’t cycle (research shows that 79 per cent of women never ride a bike at all), particularly if they have children with them, it just feels too dangerous.
Please, please can we have more separate, designated cycle paths, like the one between Drayton and Abingdon? If cycling is made safer then more people will do it.
I have signed Sustrans’ ‘Motion for Women’ petition, which aims to make governments take the issue of safer cycling more seriously and I’d urge other women to do the same at www.bikebelles.org.uk
Jane Hornsby (Mrs), Steventon
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