Crashes involving bikes surge during London Tube strikes

London has looked more like Amsterdam during the Tube strikes with thousands more cycling, but there have also been more incidents on the roads this week.

Londoners can let out a sigh of relief as the last wave of Tube drivers’ strikes officially wrapped up at midday, although disruption will linger until the evening.

Cycling has boomed this week as commuters relied on bikes to navigate the disruption, enabling strikelists to overcome the worst of it.

Cycle lanes have been full to the brim with beginner strikelists and experienced riders coexisting with traffic and pedestrians in the controlled chaos that is London.

The Embankment tally had clocked almost 4,000 riders before 9am yesterday, compared with around 252 cyclists on an average day.

Rise in ambulance crash callouts

Figures from the London Ambulance Service given to Metro suggest there has been a rise in incidents involving bikes this week.

There were 44 road traffic collisions involving bicycles, push bikes and e-bikes between Tuesday and Thursday this week, compared with 30 incidents logged by call handlers in the same period last week – around 46% increase.

Last year, between Tuesday, April 22, and Thursday, April 24, emergency call handlers recorded 31 bike-related incidents.

However, there has also been a surge in the number of cyclists. Also, the figures do not detail whether the incidents involved another bike, a pedestrian or a motor vehicle.

There were 1.5 million daily bike journeys across London last year, according to TfL. Its survey of cyclists showed that 76% of people using Cycleways felt safe.

While London now has 267 miles of cycle lanes, campaigners have warned that the network is over capacity.

Simon Munk, the London Cycling Campaign’s head of campaigns, told Metro: ‘We are seeing the numbers going up from the strike and people cycling, and we are seeing a lot of cycle tracks at over capacity.’

He said the boom of cyclists during the strikes will be the average in London in a couple of years.

He continued: ‘For cycling to be a mainstream mode of transport, which it clearly now is capable of doing, we need more routes, we need more capacity, and we need the boroughs and TfL to get on and deliver that.’

‘We need Paris. We need the mayor of London to act like the mayor of Paris does.’

A TfL spokesperson said: ‘Walking and cycling are vital to a sustainable transport network, and we’re committed to ensuring Londoners have access to a safe, high‑quality, joined‑up cycle network. Since 2016, the network has grown from 90km to over 431km, meaning 27 per cent of Londoners now live within 400m of a high‑quality cycle route.

‘We recognise that disruption such as Tube strikes can encourage more people to try cycling, reinforcing the need to continue expanding the Cycleways network and making London’s roads safer for everyone. TfL’s Safe and Healthy Streets investment programme commits over £150m each year in our business plan to make active and sustainable travel safer – including £94.8m allocated to London boroughs for 2026/27 for safety projects and new cycle routes on their roads.

‘Our ambition is for the Cycleways network to reach 40 per cent of Londoners by 2030, and we remain focused on expanding it so even more Londoners can choose cycling safely and confidently.’

A spokesperson for the mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: ‘The Mayor is working closely with TfL to ensure London has the quality infrastructure needed to safely meet growing demand, as cycling becomes increasingly popular across the capital.

‘The Mayor remains committed to further improving road safety through his Vision Zero Action Plan, which aims to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries on London’s transport network.’

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