It's rare that you catch a government contradicting itself quite so blatantly.

This week the latest road casualty statistics for 2012 came out and while it's good news for drivers, it's not for those on two wheels.

Despite an overall reduction in casualties on the roads, buried away in the tables was a rise of 9% in the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured this year, and of 19% over the last 5 years (against the 2004-08 average). Cyclists are the only class of road users to see casualty rates rise in the period.

Nor was this confined to the congested streets of Glasgow or Edinburgh - serious casualties on rural roads rose a massive 34% over 5 years. Worse still, of the two children killed last year, one was a pedestrian and one a cyclist - hardly encouraging news to anyone considering letting their kids walk or cycle to school.

And the contradiction?

Well just last week, the updated Cycling Action Plan for Scotland (CAPS) was released [.pdf here]. CAPS - for those not steeped in government cycling policy - is the government's plan to achieve its vision of 10% of journeys by bike by 2020.

The last CAPS had promised to investigate the feasibility of introducing Strict Liability legislation to provide greater protection to vulnerable road user, which would mean drivers would be automatically held responsible for a collision with a cyclist. It's a proposal supported by driving instructors.

The latest version of CAPS rejects this because:

[C]ountries like the UK and Ireland are clearly reducing fatalities in cyclists and all other road users without strict liability legislation in place.

It's not that clear to us, minister. What is clear is that the safety of cyclists is not on the government's radar.

While they have an overall target to reduce deaths and injuries, particularly for children, there are no targets specifically to cut deaths and casualties for the most vulnerable road users like pedestrians or cyclists.

That means there's no drive to make real changes to our roads to make them safer, and feel safer, for people on foot or on bike. This is important. The thing putting most Scots off cycling more isn't the weather or the hills - it's fear of mixing with traffic.

Just 1.3% of journeys in Scotland are by bike, while 2% of working Scots commute by bike – just 1% of women - and 3% of children cycle to school. After all, why would you get out of your car and take up practically the only means of transport which is getting more dangerous not less?

The government argues that the distance cycled has increased 30% over the past 10 years, which puts the increase into perspective. But Scotland is seeing little of the 'safety in numbers' effects that other countries have experienced as cycling rates rise.

Kilometre for kilometre, the Dutch are far safer on their bikes than we are [see a study from Rutgers university in New Jersey .pdf here] - and there everybody cycles from five-year olds to 85-year olds, with not a helmet or bright yellow jacket in sight.

Without real change if more people, and especially more children, take to their bikes, then casualties will continue to rise. More likely, though, people will stick to their cars and deaths will rise through other means - heart disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes, and all the other ills that keep Scotland the sick man of Europe.

Our manifesto calls for a real sea change in cycling policy in Scotland. As well as better law enforcement, and the introduction of strict liability, we need default 20mph speed limits in residential streets and 40mph on unclassified rural roads.

We need proper cycling infrastructure - not just paint on the road, or advance stop lines that as often or not are blocked by cars. And above all we need real investment in making cycling safe for everyone.

The Scottish government has largely rejected such measures. Instead it has announced yet another education campaign urging 'Mutual Respect' between road users. This follows their last campaign, urging motorists to give child cyclists 'Cycle Space' - the bare span of a child's outstretched arms.

All they will achieve is to reinforce the impression that by venturing out on a bike you're putting yourself - and your children - at the mercy of drivers.

Just two days after this year's Pedal on Parliament, eight-year-old Kyle Allan was killed on his bike in Aberdeen. Six cyclists have been killed in Scotland already this year. We hope that these will be the last - but we're not counting on it.