England and Wales.
Saved you a click. Put this in the title.
That’s fine, but do it for cars first.
I was going to say… meanwhile, car driver kills a motorcyclist and all they have to do is utter the phrase “I didn’t see him”. Big oopsie!
SMIDSY!
Absolutely there was a lad sent down for only 2 years a few days here in the UK, he killed all 3 of his passengers and gave two kids in the car he hit life long injuries. 2 years is a joke.
The amendments tabled on Thursday will bring the offence of death by dangerous cycling in line with motoring laws, the Department for Transport says.
So, drivers who kill pedestrians currently get life in prison? I’ve never heard of this happening.
Me neither. I suppose the main point is that the maximum sentence of two years is no longer applicable. Personally I think it may be justified in some cases with larger e-bikes. I’ve seen people doing maybe 40 or 50 k on shared pedestrian paths with their bicycles that are basically electric motorcycles with pedals. If a kid stepped out in front of them I wouldn’t want to see what happens. An adult might get their leg broken, or even killed if they fall in a certain way. Not to mention the risk of permanent damage…
I doubt this law will be maximally applied to cyclists on regular bicycles, not enough weight and speed. Put them on the heaviest, fastest e-bike though, and the equation comes out different.
@Showroom7561 @jabathekek no, it means that it is possible for them too. But I presume it requires circumstances that are rare.
It also means that few cyclists that kill a pedestrian will end up with a life sentence.
Does “vehicular homicide” not exist in the uk?
Different terms, and potentially different offences depending on circumstances, but yes it effectively does.
It is against the law to kill people with your car or to drive in a manner which does, or could, kill someone.
Only applicable if you’re a disciple of vehicular cycling
@atzanteol @CompactFlax read the article, it is just expanding the current vehicle laws it include cyclists.
So in all likelyhood cyclists will get slaps on the wrist like drivers to.
Of course, Conservatives would dream this nonsense up.
just 0.6 per cent of pedestrian fatalities involve a collision with a bike.
Typical Conservative strategy: Focus on a non-issue, and make it seem so outrageously important, that people can’t help but be outraged.
The UK Government reports 9 pedestrian fatalities involving cyclists… from 2018 to 2022. During the same period, there were over 1600 deaths caused by drivers of motorcycles, cars, buses, or trucks.
And for some balance, this pedestrian only got three years for killing a cyclist.
I mean, sure, I guess? If you manage to kill someone on a bicycle then you did something extremely wrong.
But obviously this is just bait to take the conversation away from the much bigger car fatalities.
Cyclists are punished more severely than motorists because cyclists killing pedestrians is a violation of established hierarchy, whereas motorists doing the same is a reinforcement of it.
Anyone causing another persons death in traffic should potentially go to prison, regardless of the killer or victims means of mobility.
But for life?!
Depends on the circumstances, yes, so I would call it an upper limit.
I agree, it’s not the middle ages anymore. I think that once you die they should release you from prison; sentence durations shouldn’t exceed life.
And yet egomaniacal BMW drivers and Super Duty wackos get so much as a fine for killing a cyclists.
