A debate on cycling “safety issues” will be held in the House of Lords when Parliament returns from its summer break next month. 

The full title of the debate scheduled for Thursday 12 September is ‘Safety and regulation issues involved in the use of pedal cycles on the road network’ and is an updated version of a debate initially meant to have taken place in June, but that was cancelled due to the dissolution of Parliament ahead of the general election. 

Cyclists stopped at red light in London
Cyclists stopped at red light in London (Image Credit: Simon MacMichael)

Former Metropolitan Police head Lord Hogan-Howe had wished to “ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that pedal cyclists abide by the criminal law and are held accountable where they breach that law”, the rescheduled September debate similarly to discuss “safety and regulation issues” around cyclists using “the road network”.

Last November, Lord Hogan-Howe, a crossbench peer in the House of Lords, had claimed that “dangerous” cyclists are “entirely unaccountable” and should have number plates. The former Met Police chief is one of 12 peers who have so far expressed a desire to speak at the debate, Green Party member and pro-cycling advocate Jenny Jones also listed.

The Lords debate also follows the widely reported wish of the previous Conservative government to pass “dangerous cycling” laws, legislation that was put on hold by the election. The Labour Party also said during the campaign that it “will change the law to protect people from dangerous cycling” if it was in government next, although this statement was not seen in the party’s manifesto or King’s Speech, not that its omission from headline policy precludes future legislation.

The topic of dangerous cycling attracted widespread national print and broadcast media coverage in May, during the aftermath of a coroner’s inquest being told that no charges would be brought against a cyclist who was riding laps of London’s Regent’s Park when he crashed into a pensioner, causing her fatal injuries.

> No charges brought against Regent’s Park cyclist after high-speed crash in which pensioner was killed while crossing road

The cyclist, Brian Fitzgerald, was riding in a group at a speed of between 25mph and 29mph at the time of the fatal crash, which led to the death of 81-year-old Hilda Griffiths. The speed limit in the park is 20mph, but the Metropolitan Police confirmed that it does not apply to people riding bicycles (as is the case throughout the country), and that the case had been closed because there was “insufficient evidence for a real prospect of conviction”.

In the weeks after the coroner’s inquest, former Conservative leader Duncan Smith proposed the introduction of a specific offence of “causing death by dangerous, careless, or inconsiderate cycling, and causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate cycling”, to ensure people on bikes “face the same penalties as drivers and motorcyclists” responsible for the death of pedestrians.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith (Parliamentary portrait)
Sir Iain Duncan Smith (Parliamentary portrait) (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

Transport Secretary Mark Harper backed the legislation and it looked as thought it would be passed, Labour offering no opposition to the proposal. However, when Rishi Sunak called a general election and Parliament was dissolved, it meant there was not sufficient time for the amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill to be passed.

During the subsequent campaign a Labour spokesperson confirmed such legislation would be resumed post-election: “Labour will change the law to protect people from dangerous cycling, and we commend the families for their relentless campaigning. The Criminal Justice Bill was meant to be a flagship bill for his government, but Rishi Sunak walked away from his promises to these families the moment it suited him. It’s understandable that the families of victims will feel let down.”