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news
Cyclists in London at traffic lights in cycle lane - copyright Simon MacMichael"If the aviation or rail industry had the safety record that roads do, planes would be grounded, and trains would be stopped": Brake road safety charity latest to respond to government's 'dangerous cycling' bill
A week after the government announced that it would back an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill to introduce the offence of ‘causing death by dangerous, careless or inconsiderate cycling, and causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate cycling', the road safety charity Brake has responded by calling the attention and emphasis placed on cycling as "disproportionate".
The amendment, tabled by Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, was backed by Transport Secretary Mark Harper, who said it would mean the “tiny minority” of reckless cyclists would face the “full weight of the law”, while protecting “law-abiding cyclists”.
> The Highway Code for cyclists — all the rules you need to know
It means the maximum sentence for causing death or serious injury by dangerous cycling, if the proposed amendment passes, would be brought into line with sentencing guidelines for dangerous driving, of which the maximum sentence is currently 14 years' imprisonment. The government are set to bring forward an updated amendment to James Cleverly’s Criminal Justice Bill as it enters the House of Lords, where it will be debated.
In response, Brake cited statistics that shown nine people were killed in collisions involving a cyclist between 2018-2022, while just in 2022, 1,766 people died and 29,000 were injured on the roads in total. The charity mentions Chris Boardman's interview on BBC News, in which he said more people are killed by lightning and cows each year than cyclists.
The response continues: "In 2022, 4,935 people were killed or seriously injured in a crash involving a young driver – and yet the Government continues to push back on opportunities to safeguard young and newly qualified drivers through a Graduated Driver Licensing system, calling it restrictive to young people’s freedom.
"Three years ago, the Government committed to publishing a Road Safety Strategy with measures to reduce the number of deaths on our roads and promote safe and healthy travel for everyone. As we write this, in May 2024, there has still been no such strategy published."
As Brake mentions, the Road Safety Strategy it alluded to is still nowhere to be seen, its absence debated in the House of Lords in December 2023 as Lord William Jordan (Labour) noted that the previous strategy elapsed in 2019, leaving England as "the only country in mainland Britain and G7 not to have a published road safety strategy".
In response, Lord Roborough (Conservatives) said "priorities change" and cited an overall 2% reduction in road fatalities compared with 2019.
Brake's CEO Ross Moorlock said: “Every road death and injury is devastating for the families involved, and we welcome robust and fair sentencing for any road user who kills or harms through reckless behaviour.
"However, it feels that the focus being given to this announcement – by both Government and the media – is disproportionate given the true extent of road casualties across the UK, and the lack of commitment from this Government to address road safety at a strategic level.
"If the aviation or rail industry had the safety record that roads do, planes would be grounded, and trains would be stopped.
"Given the Government is so eager to act on dangerous cycling, we ask that they now continue this trend, by introducing further legislation that ensures that we see a significant and sustained reduction in road death and injury both this year and in the years to come."
Jack has been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of the website including tech, news and video, and also contributed to eBikeTips before being named Editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master's degree in print journalism and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it's a long story).
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26 comments
The mainstream media usually completely ignores road accidents and death crashes unless they involve a cyclist - the media completely distorts the way the public thinks when it comes to road accidents and who is the big danger on our roads.
Comparing to aviation and rail? How stupid. There aren't any idiotic pilots or train drivers. There are plenty of idiotic car drivers and cyclists.
How naive of you to think so
https://news.sky.com/story/pilot-mike-beaton-sacked-by-british-airways-and-banned-from-flying-after-cocaine-binge-before-flight-12970783
How naive of you to cherry pick a few incidents, you're missing the point here.
I suspect you don't know what "naive" actually means. If I'm missing your point, then maybe your communication skills could do with some improvement?
Is it something to do with Nye Bevan?
hello again
Which pbu are you again?
You clearly have no idea of how safety in the airline industry has changed and the culture of change. There was a big change to remove the hierarchy and make all staff have an equal say. This started from when the pilots shut down the wrong engine and would not accept that the other engine was still on fire.
Then you have the system of reporting near misses and errors to improve safety for all. The airline set up shows what can be done if safety is put first rather than convenience.
There are still a few pilots and drivers who do turn up affected by drugs/alcohol.
Obviously it's because election is looming. Tories are trying to get the car vote by slamming cyclists and the Tory media are only too happy to oblige. I mean the world is burning but the Tories see it as a war on motorists and their freedoms just to get a vote. Once the election is over any promises will be forgotten, either way.
Good to see BRAKE finally realizing that cycling safety isn't about helmets.
The thing with improving road safety is that its easy and cheap to do. It would just be political suicide as it would involve drivers being told no for the first time in their lives. You don't even need to introduce any new laws, just implement a policy of rigidly and ruthlessly enforcing the ones we have now.
Its actually the perfect thing for the dead duck conservatives to push through right now. There is no chance of them winning the next election no matter what they do so why not do something morally good, but politically unpopular before they go?
If they were interested in doing anything morally good, they wouldn't be Tories, would they?
Now now, let's not tar all tories with the same brush, otherwise we start following the same track as those who think all cyclists are law breakers etc. Clearly the tories towards the centre that are still sitting MPs are holding their nose so tightly I'm surprised it hasn't been chopped off however.
You think it's like Trainspotting? In the movie version: "Begbie's fuckin' psycho, man! But... he's a mate, so what can you do?"
Obviously those in the centre could join Labour no trouble, if they're happy to take Natalie Elphicke.
Coincidentally, my tory MP's rag dropped through the letterbox yesterday. In four pages, he mentions the Conservatives once, and just glancing at it, you'd be hard pressed to say which party it was from. Blue is conspicuously absent.
They might pretend not to be tories to win votes but you can be sure they won't hesitate to vote for whatever vile policy the latest cryptid they put forward to lead them has decided will froth up their base enought to be worth hurting the british public for.
My local Tory MP is known to be one of the laziest. His pamphlet is all about what Sunak and the Tories have done and can do you good, honest, hardworking families but nothing about what he has actually done or would do.
It's a self-selected group, so they're all agreeing with the party's policies.
https://www.weidenfeldandnicolson.co.uk/titles/ian-dunt/how-westminster-...
I haven't seen much evidence that there are many (if any) Conservative MPs with a conscience or sense of public duty.
I'm sure there could be a few but they've kept quiet and almost always voted to support the Government's crazy antics so I'd not rush to piss on any of them if they were on fire... well, maybe a little bit but not enough to put the fire out.
After what the Tories have pushed through parliament and (via their influence on the right wing press and the BBC) during the last 14 years - if you start looking you might realise that it's a lot of nasty, shitty stuff while lining their own pockets and f**k-all that actually benefits the general population - I really despise them even more than I did before.
The premise of this 'dangerous cycling' thing is that people on bicycles are a menace. Yet EVERY SINGLE TIME I step out of my front door to walk down the street there are drivers speeding, doing 40, 50 or more in a 30 down an arterial road past the local shops. I ride to work and see them accelerating through red lights, cutting people up and worse. There are man-child jerks with popping exhausts and tinted windows on their spoiler-clad shopping trolleys, SUV drivers barrelling along country lanes like it's their private driveway... the list is endless.
The standard of driving for many has slipped while the volume of traffic is higher than ever. It's not a good mix. You only have to check the Car crashes into building thread in the forum to see examples of the daily wreckage by idiots in cars. I find this attack on cyclists disingenuous and potentially a prompt for driver aggression. I cannot see how it could make the roads any safer.
I think there are some great examples of decent Tories, Grieve, Gauke, Clarke, Stewart, Greening, Hammond - there's a good list of the 21 Tory MPs that stood up to Bozo in 2019 to, you know let Parliament actually scrutinize Brexit - but most of them were forced out of the Conservative party - which tells you all you need to know about the decency of those that remain.
What makes you think this is political? If the Green Party got in we'd be back to using horses, even though their exhaust punches holes in the atmosphere.
Well, that doesn't appear in any of their literature - I think you're constructing a straw man and not even a very good one.
I think they were aiming for a straw doll. Or maybe even a wicker man...
As HP says, I must have missed that in the (now dead) Bute House agreements. Shurely it's the trans / gender dogwhistle you're looking for?
I think you've also gone for the wrong emission from the horse - the real problem (in the last major urban environmental crisis) was the solid emissions (and dead horses).