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    Cyclists who kill pedestrians could be jailed for life under new law in England and Wales
    United Kingdom

    Cyclists who kill pedestrians could be jailed for life under new law in England and Wales

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    25 Comments

    1. estanmilko on

      *Anakin meme* – And the same rules for motorists, right? Apparently the sentences for driving are hypothetically the same, but when are they ever applied?

    2. CastleofWamdue on

      can we do the same for drivers, or is this just cyclist hate, for the car lobby?

    4. Lammtarra95 on

      This is stupid because it repeats the error seen with ordinary crime. No consequences for shoplifting or beating someone up until one day you go too far and then the police will come after you and you will face heavy sentences. It doesn’t work and we now see record crime levels.

      With cycling, you are OK to jump the lights, slalom between pedestrians, on and off the pavement at will, but if the worst does happen, you will go to prison. It’s stupid because it won’t work.

      Enforce rules at the bottom and the rest will largely take care of itself.

    5. Toumanypains on

      One ‘loophole’ in all these punishments is running old people down, and causing them to break their hip. Far too many of these patients die about 2 years after the event. Given linking cause to death is under this, I don’t see how idiots are going to be safer around older pedestrians.

      It’s a separate issue to be considered in a lot of offences/incidents, but i wonder what proportion of deaths they can link to the accident in question, or that the law system doesn’t include.

    6. Neds_Necrotic_Head on

      Hang on a sec. I worked with a guy that killed a mother when he was speeding and lost control of his car.

      He was out of prison in 8 months.

    7. SloppyGutslut on

      Approximately *two* pedestrians die in this way per year.

      In other words, cyclists pose less danger to pedestrians than an uneven pavement does.

      Should we start jailing the heads of local authorities where there are wonky pavements?

      More importantly, since nearly a hundred cyclists are killed every year by drivers of vehicles, should the families of drivers have 3 generations of punishment in a work camp on Pitcairn?

    8. west0ne on

      You’ve got to catch them first. The police are looking for a “skinny man in Lycra” isn’t going to be that helpful in central London. As you can’t easily identify cyclists this could just encourage them not to stop if they hit someone. I’ve been hit myself and I’ve seen others been hit and quite often the cyclist just rides off; this would give them even more reason not to stop.

    9. EdmundTheInsulter on

      A cyclist can already be jailed for life for killing a pedestrian, if convicted of manslaughter

    10. limeflavoured on

      If they make the law identical to Causing Death by Dangerous Driving (which realistically they should) then the actual maximum will be 18 years unless the judge can make an argument that it’s “in the interests of justice” to give more, which basically will never happen.

    11. Crashball_Centre on

      Typical over egged byline, the test of recklessness and deliberate act would still apply.

    12. Delicious-Program-50 on

      What about road rules and insurance??? You can’t just pick bits you want for them! This asshole government, honestly. If they want to use the roads then they have to do all the stuff that car owners do; insurance and being fined for jumping red lights etc for sure.

    13. fish-and-cushion on

      How many deaths are caused by dangerous cycling? Sounds like someone has focus grouped reform voters. They’ve done trans people, now cyclists, assume it’ll be parking wardens next.

    14. GenitalJoustin on

      Why is it always Cars vs Bikes.

      Cyclists are bad, motorists are bad, get over it already it’s pathetic.

    16. derrenbrownisawizard on

      We are absolutely cooked as a nation if we introduce a law that has serious sentencing guidelines for cyclists before motorists.

    17. Cultural-Eggplant592 on

      Amazing, maybe they’ll prosecute and jail people who mow down cyclists and pedestrians next.

    18. sjpllyon on

      So if I remember correctly this is going to affect all 3 people that killed someone when cycling over a decade. Meanwhile over 100,000 people are KSI, or injured each year by cars.

      I’m not saying that cyclists should get away with killing someone. But considering the number of deaths caused by cycling compared to that of a driver the priority here seems way off.

    19. Pocketfulofgeek on

      And for car drivers? Who represent a much larger risk to both pedestrians AND cyclists?

    20. Ochib on

      Will they also be able to get off without question as long as they say “the sun was in my eyes”, or “I didn’t see them – they just came out of nowhere”?

      And get reduced sentence if the victim wasn’t wearing high vis and a helmet?

    21. BlindStupidDesperate on

      Speaking as a non-driving pedestrian, the biggest problem in my town centre is the number of numpties on e-bikes with a Deliveroo or Just Eat bag on their back, travelling on the pavement at a not inconsiderable speed.

      Anything that kerbs them, figuratively or literally, is welcome.

    22. 1FlamingBurrito on

      Lmao yet car drivers are untouchable.

      Let’s discourage citizens from using greener transport methods.

      UK governments on both sides can’t help but score own goals for the last 20 years.

    25. HawkAsAWeapon on

      So I get that it’s bringing it line with killing someone by dangerous driving, but if a life sentence is rarely given out for death by dangerous driving, what extreme circumstance would ever see a cyclist receive that punishment? Cars can drive at 100mph+, can be steered at much higher velocities etc. A bike has physical limits where it seems impossible for the same kind of reckless danger to be imposed as by a car.