As dangerous driving offences apply only to motorists, the cyclist had to be convicted for an offence falling under an act from 1861: that of “wanton and furious driving”. After protests that the penalty was not tough enough, a government in search of popularity is looking at extending dangerous driving offences to cyclists. Cyclists are mostly at risk themselves: in 2015 100 of their number were killed in road accidents, and about 18,800 injured. Magistrates are allowed to be lenient with motorists if a driving ban would cause them to lose a job. More pedestrians are killed in collisions with HGVs than cyclists but the focus isn’t on them.

Source: The Guardian September 10, 2017 19:07 UTC