Why don’t more women ride bicycles in London? The advocacy group London Cycling Campaign wanted to know, and so they asked. What they discovered was disturbing: Among more than a thousand women surveyed, nine out of ten said they experienced verbal abuse and aggression while biking. Ninety-three percent said drivers had used vehicles to intimidate them. One in five said they had given up riding permanently or temporarily after they had been harassed. And when women reported incidents of aggression to the police? The cops almost never followed up.

We spoke with the London Cycling Campaign’s Kate Bartlett about what women face on the road and what advocates are doing to make cycling safer and more accessible for all.

*** Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive access to ad-free versions of all our episodes, exclusive bonus content and stickers. ***

This episode was sponsored by Pinhead Locks and Cleverhood. Listen to the episode for the latest discount codes.

LINKS:

Check out the London Cycling Campaign’s initiative to get more women out and riding freely.

Merch! Pick up The War on Cars t-shirts, stickers and more in our store.

Purchase books from podcast guests and support independent booksellers at our official Bookshop.org page.

thewaroncars.org