.legal change

On first hearing of this story I, amongst others, was mortified. The headlines in the newspapers, and the lead up to the story on the BBC news, all seemed to suggest that drivers who had been proven to have killed people through careless driving could escape prison.

Read a little further, however, and the story takes on a different complexion. It's true that the Sentencing Guidelines Council has indeed suggested a possible shift, but it's only in specific situations, and the statement has come out because a raft of changes to the law have been proposed. Amongst this raft are quite a large number which actually make it easier to send people convicted of motoring offences to prison.

While in the one instance of causing death by dangerous driving there seems to be a shift in the wrong direction, the overall impression from the litany of changes being made is that motoring offences are to be treated more seriously - a message which many have supported in the past, and, after reading past the attention-seeking headlines, can support with full voice now.

.another sad start to the year

Last year a number of cyclists were killed in Wales after a driver lost control of his car and hit them on the other side of the road. This year three separate incidents have claimed the lives of cyclists. A 30 year old woman near Swindon, a female cyclist in Wiltshire and a 42 year old man in Latchingdon were all struck by cars. The details of the first incident are not known; in the second it is believed the driver lost control, though the exact story has not yet come to light; and in the last it seems two cars had just overtaken another vehicle, but again the circumstances surrounding the actual striking of the cyclist are not known.

Putting aside any blame, which some find easier to do than others, but which we here at citycycling would counsel since the facts are not yet known, we can only offer our sympathy and condolences for the friends and families left behind, and can only hope that the legal changes mentioned above, and a continued increase in cycling in the UK, can combine to help create a situation where cyclists are seen, and expected to be, on the road, with a resulting drop in incidents such as these.

.and finally, round the world cyclist on track

Edinburgh cyclist Mark Beaumont is still on course to beat the 18,000 miles round the world record by bike. Currently in the States after starting in Paris, he has been cycling since 5th August 2007, and is now near El Paso. When he reaches St Augustine in Florida he's then only got one leg left. Lisbon to Paris. You can track Mark's progress on his regularly updated website.