MPs back cyclists’ claim fears

17 May 2006

MPs have backed cyclists campaigning against a change in the Highway Code that they contend will undercut claims by injured riders against motorists.
New wording in the draft code, stating that cyclists should use facilities provided for them, would remove their discretion, according to the Cyclists Touring Club.
Lawyers acting for drivers and insurance companies could argue that a cyclist injured on the general highway, where there were alternative cycle facilities nearby, was at least partly to blame for an accident, the group warns. ‘It will be almost impossible to argue against “contributory negligence” claims based on non-use of a cycle facility.’
As consultations closed on the new code last week, a former transport minister and other MPs spoke out against the revision in an adjournment debate.
The threat was not an academic nicety, said Edinburgh MP, Mark Lazarowicz. The existing code’s advice on helmets had been used against cyclists, who had lost thousands of pounds in compensation as a result by not contesting cases.
Former transport minister, Charlotte Atkins, joined her Labour colleague in arguing that some cycle paths were more dangerous than the rest of the road because they were badly designed or maintained. ‘Given that cyclists are just about the most vulnerable road-users, it is important that they can make their own choices about whether to ride along a cycle route or along the road, without fear of adverse legal consequences,’ she said.
Atkins also urged cyclists ‘to put pressure on local authorities to produce local transport plans which provide for a cycle-friendly infrastructure’, and asked the Government to review local transport plans’ proposals to boost cycling from its ‘all-time low’.
Other MPs joined her in endorsing the CTC’s lobbying, which generated 11,000 letters and e-mails, jamming the Driving Standards Agency's mail server and forcing a two-day extension of the consultation deadline to 12 May.
Meanwhile, highway engineers are calling for a change in the code to promote safer driving at roadworks. Against the downward trend in road casualties, fatal and serious injuries among road workers had risen sharply in the past few years, and ‘inappropriate driver behaviour by the public has been the principal cause,’ the Institution of Highways & Transportation told the DSA.
The IHT is proposing two new clauses requiring extra care in the vicinity of roadworks and incident support vehicles.

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