Government announces consultation on 'death by dangerous cycling' law

A long awaited public consultation has opened which could lead to the creation of new offences of causing death or serious injury when cycling. The Department of Transport has published a document which says that the legislation being proposed would  'achieve consistency between cyclists and drivers and parity of sentencing options where the outcome is death or serious injury'.

 

Last year a London cyclist, Charlie Alliston was jailed ad sentenced to 18 months after the death of a pedestrian.  He was charged for causing bodily harm by 'wanton or furious driving' which carries with it a maximum of two years jail sentence. 

 

The consultation document also seeks views for extending new cycling offences to both the road and other public places. It also considers whether any new cycling offences should carry minimum disqualification periods.  

 

At present, under section 35 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, the offence of causing bodily harm by wanton or furious driving or other misconduct can be committed only if the driver or cyclist has 'a degree of subjective recklessness so far as the foreseeability of causing injury is concerned', the consultation document states.  

 

A cyclist may also be charged with dangerous or careless cycling under the Road Traffic Act 1988, for which the maximum penalties range from fines of £1,000 to £2,500.

 

By contrast, the maximum penalty under the 1988 act for causing death by dangerous driving of a mechanically propelled vehicle is 14 years imprisonment.

 

Total parity between motoring and cycling offences is unobtainable, the document acknowledges. 'We do not intend to introduce a testing, licensing or insurance regime for cyclists; the costs and complexity of introducing such a system would significantly outweigh the benefits. Nor do we propose to introduce penalty points for cyclists. A system of penalty points for cycling offences would require a record to be held or the creation of a new cycling licence regime. This could inadvertently discourage many people from taking up cycling, and unfairly burden the vast majority of law-abiding cyclists.'

 

The government will announce how it intends to proceed within three months of the closing date for responses which has been set for the 5 November. 

 

If you require legal advice regarding a similar issue call our specialist team of motoring solicitors on 01159 419 141