Learner drivers should get cycle training to make roads safer, says Paralympian Dame Sarah Storey

Safety plea: Paralympian cyclist Dame Sarah Storey
Matt Watts3 June 2016

Britain's most successful Paralympian, Dame Sarah Storey, today said learner drivers should be forced to have cycle training to improve road safety.

The 11-time gold-winning cyclist, 38, told the Standard that the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency should look at making new drivers undertake cycle training as part of gaining their licence.

She said helping drivers in cities like London “learn what it’s like to be a cyclist on busy roads” would cut accidents and reduce the “animosity” between some cyclists and motorists.

“I do remember not really covering cycling when I learnt to drive and I hope it has improved since then, but I think we need to have a section on cyclists,” she said.

“If you are fit and healthy you should go out on a bike and actually get a sense of understanding what it’s like to ride a road in traffic.

Dame Storey wants learner car drivers to train on bikes in traffic

“If you’re young and able and learning to drive in your 20s then there should be the potential to do that.”

She spoke out after Magda Tadaj, 25, was this week named as the second cyclist killed on London’s roads this year, in a collision with a lorry last month.

The other victim, Christopher Holt, 58, died after an accident with a car on May 11. Eight cyclists died in London in 2015, seven in accidents involving an HGV.

But Dame Sarah rejected calls for a ban on HGVs in rush hour, as it would be “difficult to implement without hindering the functioning of cities”.

On the issue of making cycle helmets mandatory, she said a helmet “doesn’t make it safer to cycle — what makes it is the behaviour of people around you.”

She will be competing tomorrow in the Mr Porter London Nocturne street race, with some of the world’s best riders on a 1.5km course in the City.

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