Biking UK warns ladies are delay biking by fears of unlit routes and harassment.
Girls delay biking at the hours of darkness. (Picture: Getty)
I’m a commuter bike owner, so I’m usually out and about on my bike when it is darkish – particularly in these grim winter months.
However at any time when I’m out late, I discover myself weighing up the selection between well-lit roads with heavy visitors – or quiet, unlit cycle lanes or tow paths, free from automobiles.
Speak about being caught between a rock and a tough place.
So many ladies have advised me, “there are cycle paths I don’t really feel secure to make use of at evening”. That’s why the Each day Categorical streetlight marketing campaign issues.
It displays an all-too-familiar actuality for girls like me who plan their lives round what feels secure after darkish, quite than what’s straightforward or wise.
It is why my crew at Biking UK launched our ‘My journey. Our proper’ marketing campaign final 12 months.
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Whereas the Each day Categorical and Biking UK campaigns might have barely totally different focuses, they share the identical reality: whether or not you’re strolling or biking, feeling secure in public needs to be a fundamental human proper.
Girls deserve the identical rights as males to maneuver round freely, confidently and with out worry. Lighting can play a quiet however highly effective position in that. It shapes how streets are used and who feels welcome on them.
We all know ladies make half as many journeys by bike as males and usually tend to be delay biking by fears of unlit routes and harassment.
We additionally know the way small issues could make an enormous distinction to ladies’s perceptions of security. In locations with improved lighting, calmer speeds and cycle parking in , seen location, we see extra ladies on bikes.
Whereas some sceptics might say that streetlights are too pricey for councils, I say it’s a worthy funding in making our public areas work for everybody.
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Whether or not the answer is to maintain the lights on or design streetlights with movement sensors, ladies shouldn’t really feel compelled to decide on between a busy street and a darkish, remoted path.
This isn’t nearly transport – it’s about equality, alternative and eliminating the rock and the exhausting place completely. As a result of once we make biking safer for girls, we make it safer for everybody.
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