RECKLESS CYCLISTS FACE JAIL CRACKDOWN
KILLER cyclists face tougher jail sentences under a crackdown proposed by the Transport Secretary.
Grant Shapps wants to close an ‘ archaic’ legal hole which means riders who kill pedestrians can be jailed for a maximum of only two years.
Mr Shapps wants reckless cyclists to be treated the same as reckless motorists, and hit out at ‘a selfish minority’ of aggressive riders. he said an overhaul was needed to ‘impress on cyclists the real harm they can cause when speed is combined with lack of care’.
Under his proposal, a new law of causing death by dangerous
cycling would be included in the forthcoming Transport Bill, due before Parliament in the autumn.
Grieving relatives of victims of killer cyclists have ‘waited too long for this straightforward measure’, he told The Mail+.
Campaigners have been calling for cyclists to be treated the same as drivers since mother-of-two Kim Briggs, 44, was killed 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 just 18 months because no law existed to charge him with the equivalent of causing death by dangerous driving.
Prosecutors had to rely on the Offences Against The Person Act 1861, designed to cover offences with horse- drawn carriages, to secure a conviction of causing bodily harm by ‘wanton or furious driving’. By contrast, motorists can be sentenced to life in prison for causing death by dangerous driving.
Mr Shapps said the current ‘archaic law’ means prosecutions of killer cyclists must rely on ‘a legal relic of the horse-drawn era or invoke manslaughter, a draconian option’.
He added: ‘ We need the cycling equivalent of death by dangerous driving to close a gap in the law and impress on cyclists the real
‘There can be no exceptions’
harm they can cause when speed is combined with lack of care.
‘For example, traffic lights are there to regulate all traffic. But a selfish minority of cyclists appear to believe that they are somehow immune to red lights.
‘We need to crack down on this disregard for road safety. Relatives of victims have waited too long for this straightforward measure.’
He added: ‘ As we move into an era of sustained mass cycling, a thoroughly good thing, we must bring home to cyclists – too often themselves the victims of careless or reckless motoring – that the obligation to put safety first applies equally to every road user. ‘There can be no exceptions.’ Mr Shapps may no longer be Transport Secretary when the new prime minister, announced on September 5, reshuffles the Cabinet.
But it is understood he will urge any successor to press ahead with the proposal. The change would also be dependent on the new PM backing it.
Mrs Briggs’s husband Matthew, who has been campaigning for the change, said the overhaul would reduce the suffering endured by families of victims. He added: ‘Nothing’s ever going to take that grief away and the enormous pain a tragedy like a road collision brings.
‘But at the moment, when they are trying to prosecute, the law is so archaic and that just compounds your grief because you want simplicity, clarity and efficiency to the process. It’s not just about the punishment – surely there should be an equivalence in the sentence available to judges whether it’s a car, lorry or cyclist that’s killed someone. The mode of transport shouldn’t matter.’
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, but Mr Shapps said even ‘one life [lost] is too many’.
Prominent road laws solicitor Nick Freeman, also known as Mr Loophole, said manslaughter legislation was not geared towards prosecuting road deaths caused by cyclists and juries were unlikely to find people guilty of this, strengthening the need for fresh laws.
He said: ‘I’ve been petitioning the Government to do this for a long time. There should be parity between all road users – motorists, cyclists, escooter users.
‘How perverse is it that at the moment there is no speed limit for cyclists? You can have a 20mph limit but many fit cyclists can go faster than that – but there is nothing to stop or deter them.
‘There’s also no drink-drive limit for cyclists. The law in relation to motorists is moving swiftly, but the law in relation to cyclists remains in the Dark Ages.’
In January, Mr Shapps’s department announced controversial changes to the Highway Code which gave cyclists priority over drivers.
It means drivers must give way to cyclists at junctions. Cyclists are also encouraged to ride in the middle of the road on certain roads to be more visible.
Groups of cyclists should pedal two abreast under the changes, with overtaking motorists having to leave at least 5ft (1.5m) between the car and the closest bike.