Motorists who knock down and kill cyclists will face longer jail sentences following the publication of new rules for judges.
The Sentencing Council, which provides guidance for judges, published guidelines last week which said killing a cyclist would become a serious “aggravating factor” if a motorist is convicted of causing death by dangerous driving.
Among the guidelines is one for sentencing offenders convicted of causing injury by wanton or furious driving where a motorist causes injury or death off-road, or where a cyclist causes death or injury.
Judges are advised to pass sentences of up to 18 years for the worst cases of dangerous driving.
The 10 criteria which define the worst cases include “deliberately ignoring the rules of the road” and “disregarding the risk to others,” “carrying out a highly dangerous manoeuvre,” “prolonged use of a mobile phone,” and racing other drivers.
The Sentencing Council has also increased the recommended sentences for being in charge of a motor vehicle with a specified drug above the specified level to three months in prison.
The guidelines come into force on July 1.
The guidelines follow the government’s recent decision to increase the maximum sentence for causing death by dangerous driving from 14 years to life imprisonment.
‘Vulnerable Road Users’
Cyclists, motorcyclists, pedestrians and horse riders are classed as “vulnerable road users” in the new sentencing guidelines.
The changes follow a series of high-profile fatal accidents involving cyclists.
In February 2015, Claire Hitier-Abadie, 36, was killed at a busy intersection in London when a lorry driver collided with her.
The court heard Alan Warwick had been preoccupied with trying to tidy the cab of his truck and had failed to indicate before turning left and crushing Hitier-Abadie on his inside.
He was sentenced to 160 hours’ unpaid work and banned from the road for 12 months after admitting to causing death by careless driving.
An undated image of Jean-Pierre DeVilliers, a cyclist who suffered severe injuries after being hit by a drunk driver in Devon, England in 2019. Jean-Pierre DeVilliers
In April 2022, the Epoch Times spoke to Jean-Pierre De Villiers, a South African cyclist who was left with broken legs, a broken arm, a punctured and collapsed right lung, heart trauma, and bowel trauma after he was hit head-on by a drunk driver in Devon in 2019 while on a charity bike ride.
In November 2020 Stephen Evans, 69, was jailed for 24 months after he admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving, drink driving, driving while disqualified and uninsured, and failing to stop.
De Villiers told The Epoch Times: “When I saw him, I felt nothing but love and I felt sorry for him; I felt empathy. I didn’t want an old man who clearly had a drinking problem and a life problem to go to jail.”
Last year a new version of the Highway Code was published, which advised cyclists to ride in the centre of lanes on quieter roads, in slower-moving traffic, and when approaching junctions, to make themselves as visible as possible.
‘Hierarchy of Road Users’
The Highway Code created a new “hierarchy of road users” and has been adapted to give more protection to cyclists.
The cycling charity, Brake, says more than 100 cyclists a year die on Britain’s roads—6 percent of all road deaths—but they point out 30 cyclists die for every billion miles travelled, compared with two car drivers.
Among those who have tried to promote cycling in Britain was the former prime minister, Boris Johnson, who was often seen riding his bike through London when he was Mayor of London and a Cabinet minister but gave it up when he entered Downing Street.
Chris Summers
Author
Chris Summers is a UK-based journalist covering a wide range of national stories, with a particular interest in crime, policing and the law.
