OPINION
The Power of Community and Traffic-Free Paths
By Laura Laker S
afety is such a subjective word. According to the theory of risk compensation, we each have our own individual tolerance for danger. This depends on the
person and at which stage in life they are. What feels relatively safe for a hardened cyclist – like riding on the road - might feel unsafe for someone who’s just giving cycling a go after a long break. When pedalling with children, someone’s risk tolerance usually plummets. This matters for the industry because safety is the number one reason people choose whether to cycle or not. To get more people on bikes – and more customers – more people need to feel it’s safe enough. That ultimately means safe routes, which is where my latest project comes in. Rural roads are objectively more dangerous than urban
ones. This is mainly because of higher traffic speeds, but also potentially because drivers aren’t expecting to see a cyclist and aren’t looking out for them. While we need traffic-free routes in rural communities – where public transport is most
lacking – these routes are largely absent. What’s more, getting funding for cycling and walking in rural areas is even harder than in cities and towns, because potential users are fewer. For my latest project, I identified hundreds of miles of potential rural, or interurban paths – 117 miles of council routes, and at least 300 miles of community-led routes – held up, mostly by landowners saying no to a path. Because councils don’t generally use legal powers to create paths in the same way they would roads, that’s where the conversation often ends. These aren’t random routes through fields, but
connections to essential services, to neighbouring settlements, and to nature. Up and down the country, rural communities find their nearest shops, the next town along, work or educational opportunities, friends, may only be a couple of miles away, but too often there’s no reasonable alternative to driving. For most people who don’t want to cycle with traffic, you either drive or you don’t go. When I was writing my book about the National Cycle
PHOTO: FROME’S MISSING LINKS
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June 2026 | 37
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