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Treat bicycles as strictly as cars to make roads safe
Nick Freeman
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There is a territorial tussle taking place on Britain’s roads as drivers and cyclists vie for space on our crowded highways. Each maintains they have the greater right.
Drivers often see the biker as an irritant, while those using pedal power often claim the moral high ground (it is a healthier and more environmental way to travel). Both have an equal right to the road, but it is time that equality extended to the legislation that covers traffic laws.
At the moment cyclists can commit road traffic offences with impunity. And since bikers often wear helmets and shaded cycling glasses, they are difficult to identify and can weave quickly away through traffic. So how are they supposed to be apprehended? Only this week a pedestrian in east London was hospitalised after being hit by a cyclist who made off from the scene.
What’s needed is a system where, like motorists, cyclists are subject to a points system and pay fines, or more, where appropriate. This could be done by introducing mandatory identification for cyclists — for example with the compulsory wearing of numbered tabards registered to the cyclist (and not the bike). Cyclists should also have to pay some form of insurance.
The government may argue it is already acting. The Department for Transport recently launched a 12-week consultation looking at whether new offences of “death by dangerous cycling” or “death by careless cycling”, should be introduced. The move followed the case of Charlie Alliston, who was jailed for 18 months for “wanton and furious driving”, after he collided with and killed a pedestrian, Kim Briggs, while riding a bicycle with no front brakes.
Sadly, this is an empty, headline-grabbing move. For although every death is a tragedy, the number of cases involving collisions between cyclists and pedestrians is tiny. Of the 448 pedestrians killed on Britain’s roads in 2016, only three cases involved bicycles — the rest were caused by cars or lorries.
In contrast, there are countless occasions of cyclists jumping red lights, riding on the pavement and using their bikes without due care. As someone who drives up to 50,000 miles a year, I see this all the time.
Cyclists and motorists need to be able to share the road and should face similar punishments for breaking the law. It is the only way to make our roads safer.
Nick Freeman is a road traffic and criminal defence lawyer
Nick Freeman
Share
Save
There is a territorial tussle taking place on Britain’s roads as drivers and cyclists vie for space on our crowded highways. Each maintains they have the greater right.
Drivers often see the biker as an irritant, while those using pedal power often claim the moral high ground (it is a healthier and more environmental way to travel). Both have an equal right to the road, but it is time that equality extended to the legislation that covers traffic laws.
At the moment cyclists can commit road traffic offences with impunity. And since bikers often wear helmets and shaded cycling glasses, they are difficult to identify and can weave quickly away through traffic. So how are they supposed to be apprehended? Only this week a pedestrian in east London was hospitalised after being hit by a cyclist who made off from the scene.
What’s needed is a system where, like motorists, cyclists are subject to a points system and pay fines, or more, where appropriate. This could be done by introducing mandatory identification for cyclists — for example with the compulsory wearing of numbered tabards registered to the cyclist (and not the bike). Cyclists should also have to pay some form of insurance.
The government may argue it is already acting. The Department for Transport recently launched a 12-week consultation looking at whether new offences of “death by dangerous cycling” or “death by careless cycling”, should be introduced. The move followed the case of Charlie Alliston, who was jailed for 18 months for “wanton and furious driving”, after he collided with and killed a pedestrian, Kim Briggs, while riding a bicycle with no front brakes.
Sadly, this is an empty, headline-grabbing move. For although every death is a tragedy, the number of cases involving collisions between cyclists and pedestrians is tiny. Of the 448 pedestrians killed on Britain’s roads in 2016, only three cases involved bicycles — the rest were caused by cars or lorries.
In contrast, there are countless occasions of cyclists jumping red lights, riding on the pavement and using their bikes without due care. As someone who drives up to 50,000 miles a year, I see this all the time.
Cyclists and motorists need to be able to share the road and should face similar punishments for breaking the law. It is the only way to make our roads safer.
Nick Freeman is a road traffic and criminal defence lawyer
