Call for tougher law to deal with cyclists who kill pedestrians

PEDESTRIANS need protecting from cyclists with laws to match the updated Highway Code, a barrister commissioned by the Government has said.

Laura Thomas was asked by the Department for Transport to produce an independent report into whether a law should be introduced for cyclists who cause death or serious injury.

Her 37-page report published in 2018 concluded there was a “persuasive case” for cyclists who kill or injure pedestrians to face action similar to those brought against motorists.

But despite the Government saying legislation would be updated, charges have not been introduced.

Ms Thomas said that ministers need to “review this important issue as the risk to pedestrians does not appear to have abated”.

She made the comments after an 89-year-old male pedestrian was hit by a cyclist and died earlier this month in Linlithgow, West Lothian. Two months ago, an 82-year-old woman died after being hit by a cyclist on a canal towpath in Oxford. While investigations are ongoing, neither cyclists, who were both unhurt, have been arrested or charged with any offence.

A cyclist who kills can be prosecuted and jailed for up to two years under a Victorian law for “furious and wanton driving” intended for horse-drawn carriages. However, motorists face a life sentence if charged and convicted of causing death by dangerous driving.

Ms Thomas’s review, commissioned after Kim Briggs, 44, was killed in 2016 after being hit by a cyclist riding an illegal bike, found that “the use of a historic offence aimed at carriage driving does not fit with the modern approach to road safety”. Now she believes that recent changes to the Highway Code, stating that pedestrians are the most vulnerable may require laws to match.

She said: “There has been a change to the Highway Code, most notably the introduction of the ‘hierarchy of road users’, which states that the road users most likely to be injured in the event of a collision are pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders and motorcyclists, with children, older adults and disabled people being more at risk.

“Rule H1 acknowledges that ‘cyclists, horse riders and drivers of horse-drawn vehicles likewise have a responsibility to reduce danger to pedestrians.’

“Perhaps it’s time to revisit this important issue, as the risk to pedestrians does not appear to have abated.”

A Department for Transport spokesman said: “We plan [to] publish our response to the cycling offences consultation as soon as we can.”

‘It’s time to revisit this important issue, as the risk to pedestrians does not appear to have abated’