Lawmakers have backed legislation that will see cyclists who cause death by dangerous cycling face up to 14 years in prison.
MPs on Wednesday supported introducing the new offence, alongside “causing serious injury by dangerous cycling” and “causing death by careless or inconsiderate cycling.”
Cyclists causing “serious injury by dangerous cycling” or death “by careless or inconsiderate cycling,” could face up to five years in prison.
The amendments were proposed by Conservative MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith and will be included in the Criminal Justice Bill, currently making its way through Parliament.
Sir Iain told the MPs that the case for changing the law on cyclists was “urgent.”
If passed, following a debate in the House of Lords, the bill will make cyclists who kill through careless cycling face the same penalties as drivers and motorcyclists.
In June 2022, 81-year-old Hilda Griffiths was run over by a cyclist who was racing at 29 mph in a 20 mph zone on a high-performance racing bike. The woman, whose injuries were severe, subsequently died.
Another instance of injuries caused by dangerous cycling led to a 52-year-old woman, Paola dos Santos, suffering multiple skull fractures to her eye socket. She was crossing towards a pedestrian island, when a cyclist who was overtaking a car, hit her while speeding.
According to Sir Iain, the new clause will achieve equal accountability, deterrence, and justice.
Weight of the Law
Transport Secretary Mark Harper backed the amendments that will bring the “tiny minority who recklessly disregard others face the full weight of the law for doing so.”“Just like car drivers who flout the law, we are backing this legislation introducing new offences around dangerous cycling. These new measures will help protect law-abiding cyclists, pedestrians and other road users, whilst ensuring justice is done,” the minister said in a statement.
Under the proposed changes to legislation, a competent and careful cyclist is expected to ensure that “their cycle is equipped and maintained” and that cycle brakes are kept in working order.
During the debate on Wednesday, Sir Iain brought up the case of Matthew Briggs, whose wife Kim was killed in 2016, after a cyclist collided with her. The bicycle had no front brakes and Ms. Briggs suffered catastrophic head injuries, dying in hospital a week later.
Conservative MP Laura Farris welcomed the amendments, telling the House of Commons, “It is not in dispute that whether a vehicle is a car, an electric scooter, or a bicycle, if it is operated in a certain way, it is effectively a dangerous weapon on the road.”
A 2018 report by the Department for Transport found that there was a “persuasive case” to change legislation in order to tackle dangerous and careless cycling that causes serious injury or death and bring cycling into line with driving offences.
The report compared Britain’s road safety and criminal code legislation to that of 11 countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany, and France. The document suggested that legislative change would have a positive effect on all road users.
Sir Iain told MPs that stricter legislation on dangerous cycling in other countries has not led to a fall in cycling, where it’s still increasing.
From 2018 to 2022, nine people were killed as a result of a collision with a pedal cycle and 657 received serious injuries.
The overall fatalities percentage resulting from a collision with cyclists was 0.5 percent, which is the lowest figure compared to fatalities resulting from a collision with other types of vehicles.
Cycling UK said in a statement to The Epoch Times that the government should focus on addressing wider problems with road traffic laws. Head of Campaigns Duncan Dollimore described the new rules as a “kneejerk plan to do part of a job badly.”
“Having done nothing to address these much wider problems with road traffic laws, the government wants to legislate on one piece of the puzzle without having thought through how this will work more broadly, including how it plans to deal with e-scooters and other forms of micro-mobility, or what other road traffic offences need to be changed,” he said.
“If the government is serious about making our roads safer for everyone, it should revisit the wider review it promised 10 years ago,” Mr. Dollimore added.
