To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cyclists died on the road in (a) the UK and (b) Sefton in (i) 2001 and (ii) 2002. [122276]
The table below shows the numbers of fatalities suffered by cyclists on the road in the UK and Sefton in 2001 and in 2002:
| Year | UK | Sefton |
| 2001 | 140 | 0 |
| 2002 | 133 | 1 |
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of changes in the (a) rate and (b) severity of cyclist casualties in areas where cycling with helmets is legally required. [122277]
The Department commissioned an independent review of the effectiveness of cycle helmets which was published in 2002. This report included an assessment of the evidence of the impact of bicycle helmet legislation on helmet wearing rates, injuries and levels of bicycling. The report concludes that bicycle helmet legislation has been associated with head injury reductions. A case study of Victoria in Australia found evidence that post legislation there was a marked decrease in casualty rates per head of population. Reductions in levels of cycling arid other road safety activities were recorded which may account for some of the casualty reductions.Results of this review are available on the Department for Transport website.