MORE than 30 cyclists have benefited from a ‘Be Safe Be Seen’ campaign in Evesham this month.

The cycle safety initiative was carried out by the Safer Roads Partnership and West Mercia Police, who set up cycle safety stations on Port Street and Bridge Street on January 6 and 26 during morning and evening rush hours to engage with commuter cyclists on their way to or from work or school.

Any cyclists in dark clothing or without lights on their bike were stopped by uniformed police officers who offered safety advice about the importance of keeping themselves visible and high-vis cycling products to help keep them safe on the roads, for example flashing armbands, high-vis rucksack covers and bike lights.

Anna Higgins, communications manager at the Safer Roads Partnership said: “Our ‘Be Safe Be Seen’ cycle safety initiatives are a proactive way of raising awareness about the need for cyclists to make themselves as visible as possible on the roads. Although the new year is now upon us, the mornings and evenings are still very dark so it’s as important as ever for all road users to think about their visibility and ensure that they can be seen by others.

“Alongside uniformed police officers, we stopped and spoke to over 30 cyclists across both initiatives who weren’t visible enough on the roads and gave them safety advice and high-vis cycling products to help keep them safe. We’ve run a number of similar initiatives across Warwickshire and West Mercia over the past few months and have engaged with over 350 cyclists.”

"Unfortunately some of the cyclists we spoke to just didn’t recognise the dangers involved in not being visible. A couple of cyclists we spoke to during the early morning initiative had lights or high-vis gear at home, but didn’t feel that they needed them, even though it was still very dark at that time. Initiatives like this one give us a good opportunity to promote some very simple awareness messages and make people think about their safety and the consequences of their actions.”