Internet map that pinpoints danger spots for cyclists to avoid

LONDON'S most dangerous roads for cyclists are revealed today.

An online map details every cycling accident in the capital reported to police over a 12-month period. Software experts and safety campaigners say they hope it will help cyclists avoid the worst areas and reduce the number of people injured.

Users can zoom in on their route to work and switch between map and satellite views of London. Crashes are identified with red dots.

The statistics have been released free online as part of a government plan to improve access to official data. The Google map was created by Tom Taylor, a software developer from Hackney.

He said: "I hope we will see a lot more uses for the data in the future. For instance, we could see a cyclist's travel planner that avoids blackspots, or league tables which show the most dangerous areas."

Green London Assembly member Jenny Jones, who was knocked off her bike at Elephant and Castle roundabout - a major blackspot - last July, said: "This is a very useful tool." But she added that a lot of accidents were never reported to police. "I think what you are seeing is the tip of the iceberg. I was knocked off by a car and broke my wrist, but stupidly didn't report it at the time." Her arm was in plaster for six weeks, and she still suffers pain.

Ms Jones called on Mayor Boris Johnson to reconsider his plans to alter traffic light timings in favour of road vehicles. She said: "In areas like Elephant and Castle, pedestrians just aren't given enough time to get across the road, and cyclists are the frontline with this problem. If the new timings are wrong, it is going to be disastrous for cyclists. The blackspots have heavy traffic but also a lot of people milling around."

Charlie Lloyd of the London Cycling Campaign said the maps were interesting but key data was missing. "What isn't here is how many cyclists are using each route. It's good the Department for Transport has released this, but we need more."

He advised bike users to look for routes on the London Cycling Network, which avoids blackspots.