Traffic restrictions because of COVID-19 did little to stop cycling deaths in Australia, according to a national advocacy group.
Bicycle Network says the death rate among cyclists on Australian roads has remained constant since 2001, with 42 dying last year.
The total from 2001 to last year is 744, according to the network.
The group is calling for urgent improvements to roads, safer speed limits and more detailed data to help lower the toll.
"While COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns changed the way we lived in 2020, many details about lives lost did not change," Bicycle Network said in a statement.
"The total number of cases, bike rider proportion of total road fatalities and fatalities per state all remained similar to the 20-year average."
NSW had 14 fatalities last year and Victoria 13, despite Melbourne's prolonged shutdown.
The death rate among men over 40 has increased over the last decades.
Last year 35 of the fatalities, or 83 per cent, were in that demographic.
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