Nottingham cycling group for women calls for safer streets and better routes
It comes as the darker nights are drawing in and a national initiative has been set up
A Nottingham cycling group for women wants more to be done to help riders feel safe when out after dark.
Research shows worries about drivers, poor street lighting, and rough roads are among the top reasons why those on a bike feel uneasy at night.
Emily Wilczek, the co-director of Women in Tandem, tells us more:
"We know that disproportionately women are affected by a sense of safety when cycling out on the streets. Whether that's, being in dark or poorly lit areas of the street, feeling more vulnerable perhaps, having infrastructure that's not suitable for for them, like if they have trailers with them.
"We know that by providing safer streets for women, we're actually going to be benefiting all riders because that's something that we can all enjoy when we have access to safer, more well lit, better signed routes.
"So in Nottingham, we actually have quite a good cycling infrastructure already, but there's still improvements to be made, like if you look at the cycle routes through cities, they're often taken away from more main roads, which is desirable - we don't want to be cycling in very busy traffic - but that often means the route is down beside a canal, for instance, or a park. These kinds of areas are usually places that are nice to travel by in the day, but when the sun goes down, and it gets darker, often they have no street lighting and are isolated."
The research from personal injury specialists Injury Lawyers 4u found cyclists are riding in fear with figures revealing that nearly half are too scared to get on their bikes after dark, and women are being harassed, abused and even followed on the nation’s roads.
They did a nationwide study of 2,000 cyclists and found that 42% of cyclists feel unsafe once the sun goes down, blaming aggressive drivers, dangerous overtakes and speeding motorists for putting lives at risk. It was also uncovered that 4 in 10 cyclists saying they’ve faced harassment while riding.
A quarter (25%) have been shouted at or verbally abused, and that 40% of female riders feel too scared and actively avoid cycling at night.
Safety fears are compounded by the incoming winter weather as cyclists raise fears of poor street lighting (56%) and poor road surfaces (39%) as further reasons they do not feel safe after dark.
The study further shows that half (50%) of British cyclists feel it’s less safe cycling in 2025 than it has been in the past five years.
This all comes as Cycling UK have organised for cyclists across the East Midlands, and the rest of the UK, to take part in mass glow rides on 22 October 2025.
It's in a move to call for safer streets and better cycle routes, especially for women riding after dark. These rides are women-led, but open to everyone.
The charity say women should have the right to move around the streets with confidence, but that when the evenings get darker, many women put their bikes away, and others feel forced to choose between cycling on a busy main road or a dark isolated cycle path.
They say these things need changing:
- We need better networks of direct routes separated from traffic
- We need to listen to women's voices around the planning and design of routes, to make sure they work for them
- We need better promotion of the new Highway Code, to foster more respect on our roads
- Small things can make a big difference to women's perceptions of safety - like improving lighting, reducing speed limits, and making sure bike parking is in a good visible location
You can find out more about the ride and where the closest one is to you on the Cycling UK Website.
Cyclists can learn more about their rights and what to do after an accident here.