Transport chiefs in London were plunged into a “cover-up” storm over a sharp rise in cycling casualties.
The number of fatalities and serious injuries among cyclists in 2025 was 1,196, a jump of 20.3% on the 994 in 2024, and a record high since at least 2017.
This rate of increase was higher than that for the growing number of people using a bike in the city.
There were 1.5 million daily cycle journeys in 2025, a 12.7 per cent rise from 1.33 million in 2024, according to Transport for London.
If slight injuries are included in the figures, the total is still outpacing the growing number of cyclists.
There were 5,662 cyclists killed, seriously hurt or slightly injured last year, compared to ,4,878 in 2024, a rise of 784 or 16.1%, also a record high since at least 2017.
However, announcing the latest road traffic safety figures, TfL highlighted a fall in the number of cycling fatalities, from nine to six, rather than the data showing a significant rise in the number of serious and slight injuries involving bikes.
Transport campaigner John Stewart told The Standard: “The latest data suggests it’s becoming more dangerous to cycle on London’s streets.
“It’s no surprise that TfL tried to cover up these shocking figures.”
Simon Munk, head of campaigns at the London Cycling Campaign, stressed: “The good news is that cycling levels are booming and fatalities are down.
“But the current level of risk is on the rise and there are more serious injuries than there was growth in cycling.
“That’s absolutely the wrong direction and highlights the need to do a lot more for cycling and walking.”
He added: “TfL needs to be more transparent about not only the statistics but also the reason for these rises.”
He suspects the growing number of injuries is more linked to the capital running out of cycling infrastructure capacity rather than the greater use of e-bikes.
Road safety activist Vincent Stops, who has highlighted the growing number of casualties, stressed: “The number of cycling KSIs (killed or seriously injured) on London’s roads is at a record high.
“By failing to point this out, they (TfL) are not being honest and sufficiently open and so policy making will be poor.”
TfL’s release on the latest road safety figures, put out on May 29, was entitled “London road deaths down again in 2025, but more work to do to reduce road danger”.
It added: “This reduction is despite cycling levels continuing to rise...meaning that the overall risk to people being killed whilst cycling has reduced.
“Provisional data also shows that the number of casualties per million cycle journeys reduced by 27 per cent between the 2010-14 baseline and 2025 (from 14.3 cyclist injuries per million cycling journeys to 10.4).”
Transport campaigners criticised the use of 2010-14 as a baseline, stressing that road casualties were particularly high during this period.
The TfL release does mention an eight per cent increase in serious injuries, rising from 3,597 in 2024 to 3,900 in 2025 “driven by both injuries” to people cycling and travelling in a car.
“Cycling in London continued to boom in 2025, accompanied by the widespread adoption of e-bikes, both dockless rental bikes and privately owned bikes,” it added.
“While injury risk per journey has increased compared to 2024, it remains lower than the historical baseline. TfL is working closely with the police to better understand the causes of injuries to car occupants.”
TfL stressed its determination to “eliminate deaths and serious injuries” on London's roads and “commitment to being open and transparent” with all safety-related data.
“That's why we've made this easily accessible to the public through our Road Danger Reduction Dashboard, which enables people to understand the scale of the challenge the capital faces,” said a spokesperson.
The transport chiefs emphasised that the six cycling fatalities in 2025 were the second lowest annual number of deaths.
“The number of people who experienced serious or slight injuries while cycling sadly increased in 2025 compared to 2024,” they added.
“But overall cycling casualties are 27.6 per cent lower per million cycle journeys than our 2010-14 baseline, which demonstrates the progress made in making streets safer.”
