MP calls for mandatory bell law for cyclists “to warn pedestrians”, as Iain Duncan Smith renews ‘dangerous cycling’ law campaign and claims e-bikes are causing “major danger”

A Conservative MP has called for cyclists to be required by law to fit and use a bell when riding a bicycle, as the party’s former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith renewed his campaign to introduce tougher laws to punish dangerous cycling.

During a debate on the Labour government’s new Crime and Policing Bill, Duncan Smith argued that his proposed legislation – which, despite attracting cross-party support last year, was shelved due to the general election – would crack down on people “genuinely abusing” the Road Traffic Act, as well as e-bike riders “causing major danger” to pedestrians on paths.

The second reading of the Crime and Policing Bill, branded “one of the biggest legislative updates to policing for decades”, took place in the House of Commons on Monday. Labour says the legalisation aims to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, shop theft, and street crime, including giving police officers more power to search for stolen mobile phones.

However, clause four of the bill could affect people riding bikes in pedestrian zones or on footpaths, by enabling police officers or local officials to issue fixed penalty notices of £500 to anyone found to be breaching a council’s public space protection order (PSPO), replacing the current £100 ceiling for on-the-spot cycling-related PSPO fines.

> Cyclists could face on-the-spot £500 fines for riding in pedestrian zones under new bill – but campaigners slam “meaningless rhetoric” and ask: “How is this justice?”

And, as Monday’s Commons debate turned to cycling, Duncan Smith urged the government to consider including his proposals for tougher ‘dangerous cycling’ laws as part of the Crime and Policing Bill.

Cyclist in London with pedestrians in foreground (credit: Simon MacMichael)

Last year, the former Conservative leader spearheaded a campaign to introduce an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill, which would lead to tougher sentences for people who kill or injure while cycling dangerously.

The amendment looked almost certain to pass last summer, but was stopped in its tracks by Rishi Sunak’s decision to call a general election in July, meaning there was insufficient time for the legislation to pass through parliament.

Meanwhile, during the election campaign, Labour said it would support new laws “to protect people from dangerous cycling”, although little has been heard on the matter since the party entered government.

Faced with this apparent lack of progress, Duncan Smith questioned on Monday whether his ‘dangerous cycling’ proposals were still being considered by the government, asking: “Is that gone?”

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“The main point I was making was we have had deaths on the street where cyclists cannot be prosecuted for having killed someone,” the Chingford and Woodford Green MP said.

“We are still using a piece of legislation from the mid-19th century, which was offensive and wild carriage driving, which is not acceptable but it hardly ever commits anybody and convicts them either.”

He continued: “So, I would encourage the government to please look again at dangerous cycling where people genuinely abuse the Road Traffic Act and nothing ever seems to be done for them, particularly now on e-bikes which are very dangerous and they’re used in the pathways. Even if they’re not committing a criminal offence in the sense of it, they are causing major danger.

“And ASB – antisocial behaviour – is a big thing our constituents notice and they feel very threatened by people who ride them down on the pavements. It may seem small, but it’s not.”

Following Duncan Smith’s intervention, Labour’s policing minister Dame Diana Johnson noted that the government was looking at introducing new dangerous cycling laws “in detail”.

“The issue of dangerous cycling we are looking at, and we recognise what a doughty campaigner he is, so we are certainly looking at that in detail,” Johnson said.

> Iain Duncan Smith's anti-cycling crusade is anti-reality

Expanding on his former part leader’s proposals, Sir Julian Lewis – the Conservative MP for New Forest East – also called for a new law requiring cyclists to fix bells on their handlebars.

“It would also help if it were made mandatory for all cyclists to have a bell so they could at least warn pedestrians of their approach,” Lewis suggested.

In response, Duncan Smith said he would take his fellow MP’s mandatory bell suggestion “into consideration” as he attempts to revive his campaign for updated cycling legislation.

Bike bells were last on the agenda in parliament in March 2022 when, incidentally, the then-Conservative government insisted that it had no plans to make bell usage mandatory.

The Labour MP for Putney, in west London, Fleur Anderson had raised the issue with the Department for Transport, asking then-Transport Minister Grant Shapps whether he had made any assessment “of the potential merits of requiring all bicycles to include a bell?”

In reply, Trudy Harrison, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary and now the chair of the Bikeability Trust, rejected the idea on behalf of the government.

“Rule 66 of The Highway Code recommends that bells are fitted to cycles, and that people who cycle should always be considerate of other road users, including by calling out or ringing their bell if they have one,” she said.

“All cycles are required at point of sale to be fitted with a bell, but we do not intend to legislate to make the use of bells on cycles mandatory, as there are other ways for people who cycle to warn other road users of their presence.”