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CCC believes cyclists of all ages have a duty to ride responsibly. Reckless, careless or inconsiderate cycling can put fear into pedestrians in the same way that poor driving can affect how cyclists feel about safety.
We always try to help pedestrians who have been inconvenienced, insulted or injured by cyclists. We hope these links help (please let us know if they are out of date).
Information about cycling offences
“Wanton and furious cycling” carries a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment
“Dangerous cycling” carries a maximum £2,500 fine.
Neither the “dangerous” nor the “wanton and furious” offences require a death to have occurred.
The "wanton and furious" charge has been used twice between 2001-11. Each case followed the death of a pedestrian and the cyclists received custodial sentences.
See this BBC story and this Daily Mail story.
There was one other prosecution of a cyclist following a pedestrian death on a grass verge. They received a suspended custodial sentence in recognition of the fact that the cyclist was a vulnerable individual with learning difficulties. See BBC news story.
While there have been three pedestrian fatalities in ten years involving cyclists on pavements or verges, there are about 40 pedestrian fatalities per year involving motor vehicles on footways and verges. See the briefing. Please note that while cycling on the footway appears to stand out in the public consciousness, a great many drivers also use their cars illegally on the footway, if only to move their cars out of the carriageway.
This briefing deals with the issue of cyclists going through traffic lights on red.
Terminology
In civil engineering terms, the pavement is the road between the kerbs, more commonly known as the carriageway. The strips either side, when used solely by pedestrians are called footways. "Pavement" is commonly used to mean the road in the US, where the footway is known as the sidewalk.
