Organisation: The All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group (APPCG)
Date uploaded: 16th May 2017
Date published/launched: May 2017
The APPCG says hundreds of thousands of crimes – committed by a ‘small minority of road users’ – are going unrecorded by the police each year, resulting in a feeling of ‘lawlessness and aggression’ that is deterring many people from cycling.
The report points to statistics which show that the number of driving bans handed out has fallen by 62% over the last 10 years, which exceeds the drop in serious motoring offences recorded over the same period.
The report sets out 14 recommendations focusing on ‘preventing harm and danger in the first place’ and ‘ensuring justice where injury has resulted’.
These recommendations include revising the Highway Code to provide stronger legal grounding for a hierarchy of road users, with vulnerable road users prioritised ahead of drivers, and changing the driving test to improve driver behaviour towards cyclists.
Focussing on enforcement, the report says roads policing should be given a higher priority and that the police must ensure that a higher standard of investigation is maintained in all cases where serious injury has resulted.
In addition, the report says all police forces should ensure that evidence of common offences submitted by cyclists, or other witnesses, using bike or person mounted cameras or smartphones is put to use, and not ignored.
Expressing concern over the decline in the number of driving bans and the ‘very large numbers’ of drivers who are escaping disqualification upon reaching 12 points, the report says the Ministry of Justice should examine the reasons behind the decline, in particular the effect of the ‘exceptional hardship’ scheme.
The report also says the West Midlands Police ‘Be Safe, Give Space’ campaign has widespread support among the cycling community, and should be rolled out nationwide.
For more information contact: