Reckless cyclists who kill or seriously injure pedestrians will face tougher sentences in line with motoring offences.
Under changes to the Crime and Policing Bill, a cyclist who kills someone by riding dangerously could face life in prison.
Causing serious injury by dangerous cycling – or causing death by careless or inconsiderate cycling – could be met with five years in prison, a fine or both.
A serious injury caused by careless or inconsiderate cycling could result in a two-year prison sentence, a fine or both.
The law change, which cleared the Commons this week, includes legal e-bikes as well as pedal cycles, the Government said.
The Tories agreed to change the law after campaigning by Conservative grandee Iain Duncan Smith – only for it to fall foul of the early general election last year.
Sir Iain has worked with Matthew Briggs, whose wife Kim died from head injuries after a collision with a cyclist in London in 2016.
Charlie Alliston, who was riding a fixed-gear bike with no front brake, was found guilty of causing bodily harm by ‘wanton or furious driving’ – a crime under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act – but cleared of manslaughter.
Under changes to the Crime and Policing Bill, a cyclist who kills someone by riding dangerously could face life in prison
Causing serious injury by dangerous cycling – or causing death by careless or inconsiderate cycling – could be met with five years in prison, a fine or both
Conservative grandee Iain Duncan Smith said the change in the law would mean that for the first time there would be specific punishments for ‘reckless, dangerous cycling’
Sir Iain said the change in the law would mean that for the first time there would be specific punishments for ‘reckless, dangerous cycling causing injury or death’.
The Bill includes e-bikes, which he said were becoming a ‘major nightmare’ for police, with crimes being committed using them as well as being ridden dangerously.
Sir Iain said he hoped the legislation would make it ‘worthwhile’ for police to arrest someone for such offences. ‘Now you have very specific criminal offences at those who misuse and damage people’s lives and kill them,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
‘That will now be a specific crime, and will include e-bikes – riding on pavements, smashing into people, causing problems – that becomes a criminal offence.’
The Government said it was changing the law to ensure there is an ‘appropriate framework of offences to punish dangerous and careless behaviour that results in serious harm to other road users’.
The Ministry of Justice said the new offences ‘introduce penalties equivalent to those in place if the same level of harm is caused by drivers of other vehicles’.
In 2023, four pedestrians were killed and 185 seriously injured after being hit by a cyclist, according to government figures.
On average, three pedestrians have been killed per year by cyclists over the past decade.
