ABSTRACT
Fear of cycling constitutes a significant emotional barrier to cycling. Ironically, this fear is partly produced through attempts to make cycling safer. For as long as cycling remains something to fear, it remains a marginal and marginalised practice. The constant cultural construction of cycling as dangerous justifies the continued spatial marginalisation of cycling practice, which then enables the continued construction of the cyclist as other, a stranger pedalling on the margins. The ideological, spatial and cultural marginality of cycling are continuously reproduced, together. This chapter explores and better understands contemporary fear of cycling. It begins by setting fear of cycling in a wider context; we live in fearful societies and it is possible to fear cycling for many reasons beyond the fear of having an accident on which the chapter concentrate. It examines some measures which are apparently designed to improve cycling's safety; road safety education, cycle helmet promotion, and the separation of cyclists from motorised traffic.
