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Should there be harsher penalties for dangerous cycling

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Should there be a minimum custodial sentence for those convicted of causing death or serious injury through dangerous or reckless cycling? I think any likeminded person who cycles would agree that a cyclist should be punished for such offences, but is there any need for a specific offence relating to cycling?

While unlikely to become law, this week (Tuesday) saw the introduction of a parliamentary bill in the House of Commons that proposes a new criminal offence be created for dangerous cycling with distinct penalties for the offence.

The proposed bill, from Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom, was made via a parliamentary ten-minute rule motion.

Motives

Ms Leadsom’s motives for the bill come from a case involving one of her own constituents. Rhiannon Bennett, a 17-year-old girl, was knocked down by John Howard after he mounted a pavement at speed and ploughed into her and her group of friends in Buckingham. Ms Bennett died from injuries relating to her head hitting a pavement kerb.

Mr Howard was convicted of dangerous cycling under present road traffic laws but was only fined £2,200 for the crime and given no prison sentence. The conviction under this charge carries a maximum penalty of £2,500 but no prison sentence.

Inappropriate punishment

Ms Leadsom said this was inappropriate compared with the maximum 14-year jail term to which a judge could sentence a motorist convicted of causing death by dangerous driving.

Her argument is that the punishment falls short of the crime and the law needed to be updated. She wants a specific charge for death by dangerous cycling to be put on the statute book with a custodial sentence arising from a conviction.

Ms Leadsom states: “I think we should give justice to the small number of pedestrians killed each year by dangerous cycling by applying the same or similar penalties to that of causing death by dangerous driving and causing death by careless, or inconsiderate, driving.”

The case against

Understandably tragic as Ms Bennett’s case is, the simple fact is that there is no great incidence of pedestrians being killed by cyclists. Only three cases have been officially been recorded by the Department of Transport between 1999 and 2009. Figures from Road Casualties between 2005-2009 show that only two out of 70 road casualties involving pedestrians on footways also involved a cyclist during that period. The remaining 68 involved a motor vehicle.

The issue of creating a new law for dangerous cycling has already been considered before, in 2005, by the Ministry of Justice. They decided that no such law was required at that time.

Our view

It is our view that current legislation is sufficient enough to cover dangerous cycling offences. A custodial sentence is available under the The Offences Against the Person Act 1861 , which carries a section on “drivers of carriages injuring persons by furious driving”. A cyclist has been convicted under that Act as recently as 2009. Failure to charge people under the Act is more a failing of the Crown Prosecution Service than anything else. We also think Ms Leadsom’s calls for a new offence is disproportionate with the very rare cases that actually occur.

Possible legislation

Ms Leadsom is under no illusions that her bill is unlikely to become law despite it having a second reading later in the year (November). However, she stated that the government’s Transport Minister, Mike Penning MP, had suggested that provisions to update the law to take account of some her concerns could be included as part of other legislation to be introduced next year.

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