NATIONAL: Report sets strong case for death by dangerous cycling laws

Government study looks at potential death by dangerous cycling law.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said it is ‘considering the report’, which found that the gap between existing offences is ‘too wide’ and cycling should be brought ‘into line with driving’.

The inquiry is part of the DfT’s cycling review announced in September last year after 44-year-old mother-of-two Kim Briggs was knocked over and killed by a bicycle courier.

Charlie Alliston, then 18, was travelling at 18mph on a fixed-wheel track bike with no front brakes.

He was sentenced to 18 months in jail after being found guilty of causing bodily harm by ‘wanton and furious driving’.

The Victorian legislation, originally drafted to deal with reckless handling of horses, was used because there was no cycling equivalent to the offence of causing death by dangerous driving.

Ms Briggs’ widower Matthew responded by calling on the government to introduce new cycling offences as soon as possible.

He said: ‘I would now urge the government to go further and bring forward this legislation and ask that they publish a timetable towards this goal for which there is overwhelming public support.

‘I simply do not want yet another family to suffer the consequences of hopelessly inadequate and outdated legislation with the delays and confusion that simply compounded our grief after the tragedy of losing Kim.’

The study into the introduction of new laws was carried out by Laura Thomas, a partner at law firm Birketts.

A DfT spokesman said: ‘We are considering the report and will be responding to it shortly.’

Cycling UK claimed the introduction of new cycling laws without a comprehensive review of road safety legislation would be a missed opportunity.

The charity’s head of campaigns, Duncan Dollimore, said it is ‘something of a lottery’ whether drivers are prosecuted for careless or dangerous driving, leaving thousands of victims and their families ‘feeling massively let down’.

He went on: ‘Adding one or two new offences specific to cyclists would just be tinkering around the edges.’

In 2015, two pedestrians were killed and 96 were seriously injured when hit by a bicycle.

Meanwhile, more than 100 bicycle users are killed and 3,000 seriously injured on British roads each year.