In February and March 2017 Wheels for Wellbeing, a charity which helps disabled people to discover or rediscover cycling, undertook a survey of disabled cyclists.

A total of 221 individuals responded and the results challenge some common assumptions about disability and cycling, and signpost clear policy changes needed.

Sixty-nine per cent of respondents said they found cycling easier than walking – it reduces strain on the joints, aids balance and alleviates breathing problems.

This supports existing evidence that cycles are a mobility aid for many people. Despite this reality one in three disabled cyclists have been asked to dismount and walk in certain areas as legally their bikes are not classified as mobility aids.

A wheelchair or electric scooter, or person with a guide dog, would quite rightly be waved through, but someone using a bike would be stopped. The problems people encounter are due to legislative oversight and rigid enforcement. A legislative change would likely involve updating the wording and definition of ‘Invalid Carriages’ in the Road Traffic Act to better represent the mobility aids in use today.

While a lack of understanding was highlighted by the report with 35.7 per cent of respondents having “encountered abuse/disability hate whilst cycling”, a further 11 per cent said they had been allowed to cycle in a pedestrianised area once they had explained that their cycle was their mobility aid – suggesting a variation in police and local authority understanding of the issue. A fear of being challenged or abused can be a significant factor in putting disabled people off cycling.

Most disabled cyclists ride two-wheeled bikes (some standard and others with adaptations), but others ride trikes, handcycles and tandems. Around 18 per cent use electric assist bikes which is much higher than the national average.

The most frequent barriers that people noted were when cycle infrastructure included stepped kerbs, narrow cycle lanes, bollards or anti motorcycle gates which can make it impossible to use for the disabled cyclist.

The cost of non standard bikes is also prohibitive (1 in 10 respondents found that they couldn’t buy through the Cycle to Work scheme because adapted bikes are too expensive).

As Wheels for Wellbeing state, this is the first survey of its kind in the UK and opens lots of areas for further research. However, there are immediate action points for Oxford’s cycle campaigners, the city council and Oxfordshire County Council.

‘No cycling’ signs should have an exemption for disabled cyclists (in a similar way to the exemption for disabled drivers in for example Sheep Street, Bicester), public sector employees need to become aware of the extent to which people use cycles as mobility aids, and cycling infrastructure must avoid the things that make it inaccessible to other types of cycle.