Rethinking Freedom on the Road: Cycling, Law, and Safety
World Bicycle Day, June 3
Overtaking of bicyclists on rural road. Photo: NIC72 / Mostphotos.com
To mark World Bicycle Day, the Swedish Cycling Research Centre at VTI is pleased to host yet another international webinar, this time exploring how laws, regulations, and enforcement shape people’s ability and freedom to use the road.
This event brings together leading researchers to discuss everything from the values and assumptions behind traffic legislation to concrete findings on how overtaking regulations affect cyclists’ safety.
Date: June 3, 2026
Time: 9:00-11:30 am CEST
Place: Teams (online)
The webinar will be recorded and published on our website.
Program Highlights
“Freedom for the pike is death for the minnows”: Regulating mobility freedoms and unfreedoms - Ian Loader, Professor of Criminology, University of Oxford.
Professor Loader will present his latest work on mobility, freedoms, and the constraints that shape how different groups experience public space.
Overtaking of cyclists: Behaviour, regulation, and enforcement
- Katja Kircher, Research Leader, VTI.
Dr. Kircher will present her unique research on overtaking behaviour, offering insights into how overtaking laws function in practice and how enforcement strategies can improve safety for cyclists.
Why attend?
- Gain new perspectives on mobility, freedom, and road justice.
- Learn from cutting-edge research on cycling safety and overtaking regulations.
- Engage in discussions on how enforcement shapes real-world behaviour.
- Explore practical examples of how overtaking laws are applied internationally.
Join us as we rethink what freedom on the road really means — and how regulation can help create safer, fairer mobility systems for everyone.
More information will come...
Photos:
Ian Loader - by John Cairns Photography
Katja Kircher - by Katja Kircher