Baroness Anne McIntosh, a member of the House of Lords, has requested that electrical scooter and biking offences “be made clearer” so the police can “do their job” correctly. The request was made following the tragic loss of life of Kim Briggs, who was killed by a bicycle owner responsible of “furious driving”. Baroness McIntosh has been working carefully with Kim’s husband, Matt, who has been campaigning to extend most sentences for deaths brought on by bikes and scooters, to make adjustments to the Highway Code.
Speaking to LBC, Baroness McIntosh stated: “What we did hear yesterday from the minister, Baroness Vere, is that there is an offence for cycling, or driving an e-scooter or bike, while using a mobile phone.
“But we’re asking that this be made clearer to give the police the tools to do their job.
“I think everyone is wanting to see a degree of regulation and we have now had two changes in two months to the highway code, but we have not addressed the issues of e-scooters and e-bikes.”
The Baroness then described a scenario just lately during which she witnessed a bicycle owner flagrantly break the foundations twice earlier than biking away as if nothing was fallacious.
She stated: “I was halfway over a crossing when I saw this guy coming towards me on the wrong side of the road, facing oncoming traffic, one hand on his bicycle and one hand on his hand-held phone.
“He then crossed the pedestrian crossing having let me pass and mounted the pavement, so, in fact, he was committing two offences.
“What we’re asking for in the law is a degree of clarity on what the rules are and also to ensure that the Metropolitan police have the tools to do their job.
“We just feel very let down, the public is being very let down by the way e-scooters, e-bikes, and bicycles can have fatal consequences.”
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The transport minister Grant Shapps introduced in the beginning of this 12 months that he intends to introduce guidelines that improve the utmost penalty for cyclists who trigger loss of life by “dangerous cycling.”
The transfer got here three years after an impartial report commissioned by the Department for Transport beneficial the introduction of such an offence.
It adopted the loss of life of Kim Briggs in 2016, who was left with irreparable harm to her mind that killed her inside every week.
The perpetrator who hit her, Charlie Alliston, who was 19 on the time of the incident, was jailed for 18 months below the 1861 Offences Against the Person – the utmost sentence being two years.
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But Cycling UK, which is believed to have sturdy ties with the Government as they proceed to encourage biking over driving, accused Shapps of “sticking a plaster on a broken system”.
Having spent a number of years campaigning for tighter guidelines, Matt Briggs accused the Government of being “fearful” of the biking lobbyists.
He stated final 12 months: “My concern is that the cycling lobby is too close to the government and ministers are immensely fearful of this cycling lobby.”
The promotion of low site visitors neighbourhoods has additionally brought about concern that the variety of individuals utilizing bikes and e-scooters irresponsibly will improve whereas the legal guidelines surrounding harmful driving stay practically two centuries outdated.