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Houses of Parliament (CC licensed by Rajan Manickavasagam:Flickr)Leeds MP calls for Government action after cyclist's death highlights justice system failings
Leeds North East MP, Fabian Hamilton, has called for Government action after highlighting a series of justice system failings in the wake of the death of cyclist Ian Winterburn in December last year.
Winterburn was cycling along the A6120 Ring Road in Halton, Leeds, on December 12, when he was hit by a motorist who turned across his path. He died of his injuries 10 days later.
The driver, a 51-year-old woman, received a four-month suspended prison sentence, a £200 fine, 200 hours of community service and a two-year driving ban. She had previously served a 14-month suspension for a drink driving offence.
In the final House of Commons debate of the year, Hamilton highlighted multiple ways in which Winterburn’s family had been failed: first by first West Yorkshire Police, then by the coroners and finally by the justice system.
He raised five questions:
- Why did it take the police over an hour to attend the scene?
- Why is there only one collisions investigation unit for the whole of West Yorkshire?
- Why did it take three hours to notify Mr Winterburn’s family?
- Why did it take the coroner so long to issue a death certificate?
- Why was the sentencing decision moved from a Crown Court hearing to a two-hour hearing in the Magistrates Court?
Cycling UK, the national cycling charity, said that the case showed the need for better funding for roads policing across the UK, as well as increased resources across the whole legal system.
Roger Geffen MBE, the organisation’s policy director, said: “The tragic case of Ian Winterburn’s death exemplifies how spectacularly the legal system can fail to deliver justice at every step of the way, from the police response immediately after the crash, right through to sentencing.
“This case clearly shows why the law on careless and dangerous driving needs clarifying, and why roads policing and the whole legal system need better resources. This is vital not only to ensure justice is done in the aftermath following tragedies like this, but to prevent them happening in the first place.”
“The questions that Fabian Hamilton asked on behalf of the Winterburn family are asked by thousands of road crash victims every year. It is time for the Government to provide answers.”
‘If you want to save lives, reverse the cuts in traffic police’ says RoadPeace report
Based on Police Workforce tables Cycling UK has calculated that outside of the Metropolitan Police area, road policing levels dropped by 48 per cent from 2005 to 2016. This is significantly higher than the 12 per cent drop to overall police numbers during the same period.
At the same time, road casualties have increased, while convictions for traffic offences have fallen.
Government casualty figures from September show a four per cent increase in road deaths for all road users in 2016 – at 1,792, the highest annual toll since 2011.
Figures released in November by the Ministry of Justice showed that successful convictions for road traffic offences have declined from 611,093 to 516,658 from 2007 to 2016.
The Ministry of Justice announced a full review of all road traffic offence and penalties in May 2014, but so far has only conducted a partial review of the most serious driving offences.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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18 comments
It's not just the police and the judiciary, it's the msm as well.
Just remembered a BBC R4 prog from about month ago "Law in Action" which had an article about cyclists wanting the law to be changed to protect them. The first thirty seconds were about that, but the remaining few minutes was the interviewer talking about Alliston.
We need our national broadcaster to start treating cyclists fairly, so along with the resolution to do more for cycling, how about one to hassle the BBC? If enough people complain, they might just listen, and if we can get the BBC to change, then it will lead to society, including the judicial system, changing, eventually.
Maybe someone needs to go outside Broadcasting House plus the other BBC sites and steal all the bikes. Leaving a note that they get them back when they stop making news stories on cycling out of context.
Difficult that. they all take their bikes into the office with them.
https://youtu.be/Sn-qi6SVXyo
Stealing the cars would be a little more appropriate.
Cycling through a busy Derby city centre last night. Forced to cycle in to oncoming traffic because taxi driver parked in contraflow bike lane (solid white line and double yellows). Pair of coppers on Friday night patrol stood chatting to each other about 20 yds away ignoring it. Tempted to circle back round and say something to them but thought against it in case i said something I would regret.
Motor-centric, anti-cyclist policing in action. Seriously need to call them out for this and ask them to do their job rather just standing around chatting.
The call for an overhall of the road justice must be escalated in the New Year. Please right it down as a resolution now. This is to be done through individual action (you know you can book a meeting with your MP?) and campaigns
A cyclist causing a crash on winnets pass and got fined £300 but a driver causing a death only gets a £200 fine. Its starting to get seriously stupid.Do everything possible to protect yourselfs because nobody else gives a shit if you live or die on your bike,
What was the woman found guilty of?
Hard to comment without knowing.
Death by careless driving. Not terribly hard to find out, it's in the Hansard record, as is the standard set of excuses for letting off motorised killers, read out by Dominic Raab.
Seems to me that the fundamental problem with all this is alowing drivers to be judged against some imaginary standard of competence, by other drivers, most of whom are equally clueless. We need to separate punishing people, which may have to be done in this way, from removing the privilege of a driving licence, which teally shoukd be automatic for anyone who kills a vulnerable road users, regardless of "fault".
I reported a close pass - so close the car actually hit me. Recorded on video, clearly showing the identity of the car. I gave the POlice the video - and a full statement - the same night. Six weeks later, after I chase them, West Midlands Police tell me that there is "insufficient evidence" and "it's not a collision".
Judge for yourselves - but excuse the very bad language I came out with; I tend to react poorly to drivers who might have killed me.
https://youtu.be/q_97irFByVc
West Midlands Police. The "look at us, we're protecting cyclists when motorists pass to close" force. Pah.
I'm very, very angry. I worry that I might end up very, very injured or very, very dead - and the motorist responsible will be asked not to do it again and fined £25.
If only you had pulled something out of your panier and allowed the driver to claim they might be stabbed then the police would be asking for witnesses.
That is an absolute shocker. WTF? I find it hard to believe they are dismissing that one. I think suing the fecker for PTSD would be the order of day now. Might make the retard in charge of that hunk of metal think twice about shitting up a fellow human being like that.
Looks like NX52 AXU is taxed and MOT'd at present so no dice there either.
The police and broader justice system are institutionally anti-cylist. There are ingrained biases at all levels.
The system is well and truly broken and I fear unlikely to change until a cycling MP is killed. I am not advocating driving over Jeremy Corbyn, but as was seen by the death of Jo Cox, it us only when one of their own is affected that the government start listening.
Boris has been know to ride a bike.
Just the tip of a very large iceberg, with hundreds of similar cases, many reported on road.cc, every year. Politicians, police and the judiciary are still seriously anti-cyclist, with a few notable exceptions.
We need far more cyclists to challenge their MPs and police, via a Police and Crime Commissioner, write them letters and emails, go and see them and make a noise, be a nuisance and get them to do something. We can't just leave it up to campaign groups like CUK, which do all they can, frequently in the face of obstructive and indifferent ministers and staff. Ranting on here and other sites does absolutely nothing.
Make a new year's resolution; get involved! You could use the CUK briefings as a start.
I think there's a general perception that cycling isn't a repectable form of transport. People who are injured cycling are, in some way "asking for it" - they put themselves in danger. Also, there is the belief that driving is a right and that deaths in road accidents are just collateral damage.
Ben Goldacre linked on Twitter to a case in (I think) Essex where a van driver killed a small girl who was on the pavement going to school. Found not guilty. Of killing a pedestrian who was on the pavement at the time.