'Death by dangerous cycling' law considered

worldtraveller
worldtraveller Posts: 14,012 Forumite
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edited 12 August 2018 at 6:10AM in Public transport & cycling
Cyclists who kill pedestrians could face charges of "death by dangerous cycling" or "death by careless cycling", under government proposals.

The Department for Transport has launched a 12-week consultation looking at whether new offences should be introduced for dangerous cyclists.

BBC News

Department For Transport - New plans to update road safety laws to protect cyclists and pedestrians
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Comments

  • HornetSaver
    HornetSaver Posts: 3,732 Forumite
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    We have one of the best systems for tracking down a vehicle and its driver in the world, given the CCTV, ANPR and databases available to us. Yet our ability to deter drivers from endangering life - and meaningfully punish those that do - is pretty much nil.



    In that context, why bother introducing new laws on cyclists?
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
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    Maybe the new law will also include the mobility scooter maniacs who seem to think that pavements are a racetrack that they have sole use of.

    My apologies if this is already covered under existing legislation.
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
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    I find it increasingly nonsensical that the powers that be put more and more laws in place for "low hanging fruit", yet completely seem to ignore bigger threats.... instead of dreaming up new death sentences for wanton knife crimes and (increasingly) retaliation arsons in turf wars ... they spend their time pontificating about "generally pretty harmless" blokes on the odd bicycle.
  • HornetSaver
    HornetSaver Posts: 3,732 Forumite
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    PasturesNew wrote: »
    I find it increasingly nonsensical that the powers that be put more and more laws in place for "low hanging fruit", yet completely seem to ignore bigger threats.... instead of dreaming up new death sentences for wanton knife crimes and (increasingly) retaliation arsons in turf wars ... they spend their time pontificating about "generally pretty harmless" blokes on the odd bicycle.


    I agree with this to a point.

    Plenty of existing laws are a cash cow which would lead to an improvment in day-to-day life. Fine people for littering. Make sure people and the state make a profit on being victims of criminal damage. Squeeze unlawful drivers until the pips squeak - the fifteen or so of us who abide by the rules of the road will be much better off with lower insurance premiums due to the number of collisions, and even if not caught up in one, see far less time and fuel wasted sitting in traffic jams caused by entirely avoidable incidents.

    Enforce the existing ones properly and you'll find that precious few new ones are necessary.
  • Mrs_Arcanum
    Mrs_Arcanum Posts: 23,976 Forumite
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    Seems to me, that the most frequent sufferers of death by dangerous cycling, are the cyclist themselves.
    Truth always poses doubts & questions. Only lies are 100% believable, because they don't need to justify reality. - Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Labyrinth of the Spirits
  • discat11
    discat11 Posts: 527 Forumite
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    Mrs_Arcanum wrote: »
    Seems to me, that the most frequent sufferers of death by dangerous cycling, are the cyclist themselves.

    As in motorcycling accidents also -or, more accurately, any accident where a motorcycle is involved.

    I was always taught that the more vulnerable you are (on a scale of pedestrian upwards) the more careful you have to be to not only be aware of your own mistakes but also every other road users, since you'll be the one who suffers the most statistically in the event of an accident.
  • Pennywise
    Pennywise Posts: 13,468 Forumite
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    HornetSaver wrote: »
    Enforce the existing ones properly and you'll find that precious few new ones are necessary.

    Fully agree. What is needed is proper enforcement of the laws we already have before even more are added.
  • daveyjp
    daveyjp Posts: 12,521 Forumite
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    Pennywise wrote: »
    Fully agree. What is needed is proper enforcement of the laws we already have before even more are added.

    Te issue is there is currently no law which covers the situation where someone is killed by a cyclist driving dangerously.
  • unforeseen
    unforeseen Posts: 7,280 Forumite
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    edited 12 August 2018 at 9:08AM
    Wouldn't normal manslaughter laws cover it? You have caused a death by your negligence/recklessness so it's manslaughter.

    Having a separate law is just creating a subset of an existing law to make statistics easier.
  • ariba10
    ariba10 Posts: 5,432 Forumite
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    I would really like to know how many people are killed by cyclists in a year?
    I used to be indecisive but now I am not sure.
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