Bike crash law KOs drivers

28th September 2009

Motorists could soon be made responsible for all crashes involving cyclists, even if they’re not to blame!

That’s the reality facing drivers if Government advisors’ new proposals get the go-ahead.

In a recent interview, the head of Cycling England – an agency funded by the Department for Transport – said he wanted to see the legal onus placed on motorists in accidents between cars and bicycles.

A similar law in the Netherlands states that the most powerful vehicle in a collision is automatically liable.

This is one of a number of suggestions being put forward to influence the Government’s imminent National Cycling Plan and Active Transport Strategy. Both schemes aim to get people out of cars and into healthier modes of transport. Cutting the residential area speed limit to 20mph is another proposal.

But AA president Edmund King is unconvinced by the plans. “In English law, you’re innocent until proven guilty,” he said. “If the law is changed in this way, it might lead to a more ‘them and us’ attitude between road users. It won’t increase harmony on the roads in the same way as better education and training will.”

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