THE WAR OF THE ROADS

Cyclists and drivers are at loggerheads like never before — but can key changes to the Highway Code bring about a lasting peace?

There’s a battle being waged on the nation’s roads. I’m sure you are aware of it and it might seem low stakes, but the tension between motorists and cyclists often leads to dangerous and sometimes deadly situations.

It shouldn’t be so. Many motorists are also cyclists. Department for Transport casualty figures published yesterday show that out of 1,558 road fatalities last year, 682 were car occupants; 361 were pedestrians; 111 were cyclists; and 310 were motorcyclists. The rest of the fatalities involved other vehicles.

The Government is trying to calm things down with new highway Code rules and moves to create a ‘death by dangerous cycling’ law. here’s how the arguments —

or battle lines — are drawn . . .

MAKING A CASE

CYCLIsTs say cycling promotes a pollution-free, healthy lifestyle and helps reduce traffic. They call for more cycle lanes and car-free zones.

But many complain that their lives are being put at risk daily by motorists who drive too close or across their path — particularly those in large sUVs. Plenty of cyclists wear head-cams, with some reporting transgressors and using the footage as evidence in prosecutions.

Motorists, on the other hand, feel the authorities appear to turn a blind eye to cyclists’ transgressions.

Drivers are infuriated by a minority of aggressive, entitled ‘Lycra louts’ who blatantly ignore the law and rules of the road — confident that police will rarely, if ever, prosecute them. They run through red lights; drive through zebra crossings at speed, putting pedestrians at risk; and shout at drivers they believe have cut them up or kick the sides of their cars.

Increasingly, motorists deploy their dashcams to record evidence. Car-free zones perversely create jams and gridlock while cycle lanes are often empty, say critics. And there was outrage from members of the cycling community when former Transport secretary Grant shapps suggested that bicycles should carry number plates so that offenders could be easily spotted, traced and potentially prosecuted in the same way as offending motorists.

More fury followed when ministers announced plans to crack down on reckless cyclists with tougher jail sentences — by closing an ‘archaic’ legal loophole which means riders who kill pedestrians can currently be jailed for a maximum of two years.

The Government is looking to treat reckless cyclists the same as reckless motorists with a new offence of causing death or serious injury by dangerous cycling.

It has consulted on the measure, as well as on changes to existing offences of dangerous and careless cycling. The ministerial response is due soon.

It comes after a number of controversial deaths, including that of mother-of-two Kim Briggs, 44, who was killed as she crossed a road by 18-year-old cyclist Charlie Alliston in east London in February 2016. But he was jailed for only 18 months because a legal equivalent of death by dangerous driving does not exist yet.

Prosecutors had to rely on the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, designed to cover offences involving horse-drawn carriages, to secure a conviction for causing harm by ‘wanton or furious driving’. By contrast, a motorist can be sentenced to life

imprisonment for causing death by dangerous driving.

TIME FOR CHANGE

Another important change is the recently revised highway Code which introduces a new ‘hierarchy of road users’. those capable of doing the greatest harm are deemed as having greater responsibility to reduce the danger they pose to more vulnerable road users.

Police forces have cited this ‘harm’ argument — and its impact on reducing road casualties — when deciding who gets prioritised for prosecution.

the argument runs that a car hitting a cyclist will cause more harm than a cyclist running a red light. this overlooks the fact that an errant cyclist may cause a law-abiding motorist to swerve and hit another vehicle or pedestrians.

the new highway Code rules say motorists must look out for cyclists who, in turn, are required to also be more mindful of pedestrians — particularly when they are crossing the road.

however, any pedestrian who has been hit, or narrowly missed, by a speeding cyclist will know that this is probably more a hope than an expectation.

the updated Code also means that motorists turning left (as well as right) must give way to cyclists who are continuing straight ahead, even if they are ‘undertaking’ on the inside (and potentially in a blind spot) as they do so.

the amended highway Code says: ‘You should not cut across cyclists going ahead when you are turning into or out of a junction or changing direction or lane, just as you would not turn across the path of another motor vehicle.’

It adds: ‘Do not turn at a junction if to do so would cause the cyclist going straight ahead to stop or swerve, just as you would do with a motor vehicle.

‘You should stop and wait for a safe gap in the flow of cyclists if necessary.’