New law to make death by dangerous cycling a crime
Safety shake-up set to update Victorian rules for bike riders
CYCLISTS who kill pedestrians could be prosecuted in a similar way to motorists under new laws being drawn up by ministers.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the change could come soon as the findings of a consultation on updating road safety laws were being finalised.
Campaigners have been calling for cyclists to be treated the same as car drivers since mother-of-two Kim Briggs, 44, was killed by a rider as she crossed a road in East London in February 2016.
She was hit by Charlie Alliston, then 18, who was illegally riding a fixed-wheel bike with no front brakes at 18mph. He was jailed for only 18 months because no law existed to charge him with the equivalent of causing death by dangerous driving.
Prosecutors had to rely on Victorian era legislation, designed to cover offences with horse-drawn carriages, to secure a conviction of causing bodily harm by ‘wanton
‘War between all road users’
and furious driving’. By contrast, motorists face a maximum jail term of 14 years for causing death by dangerous driving. MPs want this increased to life.
Mr Shapps confirmed yesterday that new plans were being drawn up, telling LBC radio: ‘It’s to make sure we’re able to prosecute cyclists who for example cause death by their own dangerous cycling. The injuries and deaths that take place because of cyclists are also unacceptable.’
Mrs Briggs’s husband Matthew, who has been campaigning for the change since his wife’s death, recalled how after the incident police told him a crime may have been committed.
‘But then came the big “but”,’ he said. ‘The police officer said to me, “We have nothing to charge him with. I have never come across this before. There are no laws to charge a cyclist for this.”’
He added: ‘It is a simple tidy-up of the law that will reduce pressure and heartache for families at a time that is simply awful.’
In 2019, 470 pedestrians were killed on the country’s roads. This dropped to 346 in 2020 during the pandemic. Only a handful of cases in recent years have involved bicycles, with more than 99 per cent of pedestrian deaths involving a motor vehicle in the last decade.
The Department for Transport also formally announced detailed changes to the Highway Code yesterday. The new rules, which come into force on Saturday, are a ‘power grab’ for cyclists because they give them priority over drivers, experts say.
Drivers will have to give way to cyclists at junctions and cyclists encouraged to ride in the middle of the road on slower speed-limit roads to be more visible.
Groups of cyclists should pedal two abreast, with overtaking motorists having to leave at least 5ft (1.5m) between the car and the closest bike. It will not be mandatory for riders to use cycle lanes.
The overhaul will create a new hierarchy of responsibility based on how vulnerable a road user is. It means cyclists, as well as drivers, will also have to give way to pedestrians at junctions.
Roads minister Baroness Vere said it would bring the rules ‘into the 21st century, encouraging people to respect and consider the needs of those around them’.
But road laws solicitor Nick Freeman, also known as Mr Loophole, said: ‘What we have here is, in effect, motorists having to bear responsibility for cyclists and pedestrians – it falls completely on the motorists’ shoulders. We want harmony and safety. But this is going to invoke war between all different road users.’
The Department for Transport said: ‘We are exploring changes to allow us to prosecute dangerous cyclists more easily, and delivering more continuous and direct cycling routes… physically separated from pedestrians and motor traffic.’