Cyclists who kill face longer jail terms with new law to crack down on ‘legal loophole’

Cyclists who kill pedestrians can only be jailed for two years under current law

A cyclist (Jacob King/PA) (PA Wire)

Transport secretary Grant Shapps has pledged to create a “death by dangerous cycling” law that will treat killer cyclists the same as motorists.

Mr Shapps said the law was needed to “impress on cyclists the real harm they can cause when speed is combined with lack of care”.

The move will close a legal loophole which means cyclists who kill pedestrians can only be jailed for two years.

It comes four years after the government ran a consultation on proposals for new offences of causing death or serious injury while cycling.

Mr Shapps wrote in the Mail+ that a “selfish minority” of cyclists believe they are “immune” to red lights.

“We need the cycling equivalent of death by dangerous driving to close a gap in the law and impress on cyclists the real harm they can cause when speed is combined with lack of care,” he said.

“For example, traffic lights are there to regulate all traffic.

“But a selfish minority of cyclists appear to believe that they are somehow immune to red lights.

“We need to crack down on this disregard for road safety. Relatives of victims have waited too long for this straightforward measure.”

Mother of two Kim Briggs was mowed down by cyclist Charlie Alliston while on her lunch break in east London and died of her injuries a week later (Metropolitan Police/PA Wire)

Under Mr Shapps’s proposal, the new law would be added to the Transport Bill due to be put before parliament in the autumn.

Ministers have been under pressure to bring in harsher penalties following the death of Kim Briggs in February 2016.

While crossing Old Street in east London, she was hit and killed by 18-year-old Charlie Alliston, who was illegally riding a fixed-wheel bike with no front brakes and travelling at 18mph.

Because there is currently no specific legislation for cycling death offences, Alliston was jailed for 18 months under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act for causing bodily harm to Ms Briggs by wanton or furious driving.

The archaic law is intended to cover offences with horse-drawn carriages.

Matthew Briggs has been campaigning for a change in the law since his wife’s death.

Additional reporting by Press Association