Over 234 killed in bicycle accidents in 5 years

ISTANBUL

Nearly 55,000 road accidents that involved bicycles occurred in the past five years, which claimed the lives of at least 234 people, prompting citizens to call for action from authorities.

More than 57,000 people were also injured in those accidents. These figures are taken from a report the Interior Ministry sent to a parliamentary commission, which has received requests from citizens demanding safety measures for cyclists on the roads.

Last year alone, 8,500 accidents occurred, showed data the ministry provided.

Hundreds of people, including the father of a girl who was killed in a bicycle accident, requesting more and safer roads for cyclists have appealed to the commission.

That prompted Belma Satır, the head of parliament’s Petitions Commission from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), to contact the Interior Ministry and the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry to obtain information on the matter.

Both ministries prepared their own reports and forwarded them to the commission.

The Interior Ministry provided statistics on accidents that happened over the past five years, which involved bicycles, and information about its activities aiming to ensure the safety of cyclists.

The ministry has been holding events every September during Europe Mobility Week and has been engaging in works to make cyclists feel safe, it said in the report.

According to the report, the ministry also follows recommendations from the European Commission to create an environment encouraging mobility among people.

For its part, the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry said projects have been prepared for building more than 3,000 kilometers of bike paths and that the development of some of those routes has already begun.

Recently, an official from the Environment Ministry said that officials are working on plans that will add the country to EuroVelo, a network of long-distance cycle routes connecting and uniting the whole European continent.

Under the project, a 1,700-kilometer-long route, dubbed the “Anatolian Corridor,” stretching from the northwestern province of Edirne to the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri, would be developed. Moreover, a 1,465-kilometer-long second route, dubbed the “Coastal Corridor,” will be constructed between Istanbul and Antalya, on the Mediterranean coast, all the way down the Aegean coast.