Government cycling plans criticised

Knee-jerk reaction to Alliston case overlooks ‘bigger picture’

New Department for Transport statistics released last week have led campaigners to call into question the government’s decision to prioritise a review of dangerous cycling laws over other road safety measures.

The stats, which detailed road accident figures for 2016, showed a total of 448 pedestrians killed. Three of these deaths involved bicycles, while the other 99.4 per cent were killed by motor vehicles.

“This is an increase of 10 per cent on the previous year — the highest number in years,” said Cycling UK’S road safety and legal campaigns manager Duncan Dollimore, adding: “It’s wrong to have a selective review of what causes 0.6 per cent of pedestrian casualties. We should be looking at the bigger picture.”

Victorian offence

The number of cyclists killed was slightly up on 2015 at 102, while overall 1,792 people were killed — the highest figure since 2011.

The cycling legal review was announced in the wake of the recent high-profile case in which fixed-wheel rider Charlie Alliston was sentenced to 18 months’ detention after hitting Kim Briggs, 44, when she stepped out in front of him in, Old Street, London.

Alliston was convicted of ‘wanton and furious cycling’, a Victorian law which campaigners say is outdated and requires an overhaul.

Unfair cycling focus

Dollimore said: “I think the suggestion that there’s a gap in the law is a bit exaggerated.

“If there was a full review of road traffic offences and how we dealt with irresponsible behaviour on the road, we wouldn’t object to cycling offences being included in that. What we do object to is ‘let’s ignore all the other issues and let’s look at cycling offences’ without looking at the broader picture.

“I say that with great respect to the families whose lives have been devasted by these incidents,” he added.

The wanton and furious cycling law provides for a maximum two years’ prison sentence, which some argue is not enough. But Dollimore added: “There were 122 people convicted last year of causing death by careless driving. Only two of them got a prison sentence that was over two years. So when people say Alliston got off lightly, that fact needs to be borne in mind — although I’m not saying the sentence was too harsh.”

The legal review, concluded Dollimore, was “an immediate reaction to a tragic case. And reactions to tragic cases don’t tend to lead to sound policy.”