2018 consultation on Offences and Sentencing for people who cause death and injury whilst riding a bicycle

The CTC hasn't put up its suggested response to this yet, but here's an earlier article. I agree with this line.

What’s needed

Our response to the DfT’s question about law changes relating to road safety and enforcement calls for a comprehensive review of road traffic offences and penalties, including:

• Reviewing the legal definitions of careless and dangerous driving, and whether this is the correct framework to determine and classify irresponsible and dangerous behaviour on our roads;
  
• More frequent use of driving disqualifications and for longer periods, to protect the public, including closing the ‘exceptional hardship’ loophole;
  
• Introducing a new offence of causing death or serious injury by car-dooring;
  
• Increased penalties for 'failing to stop' offences where the driver must or should have known there was a possibility of a serious or fatal injury.
  
  

These are gaps or failures in the law which Cycling UK believe need urgent attention, but I made the same points to the MoJ two years ago when responding to the Truss consultation and, as I’ve said many times, waiting for action from the MoJ has been like Waiting for Godot.

https://www.cyclinguk.org/blog/review-road-traffic-offences-and-penalties-make-cycling-safer-why-wouldnt-you

In particular the 'careless/dangerous' pair needs to go. It creates grotesque problems--not only are the 'definitions' ('below/far below what would be expected of a competent and careful driver') of the legal concepts nonsense, they have been shown not to work properly in a court situation many times over. How can you determine what's careless if you weren't the person potentially being careless, and what exactly is 'dangerous', especially if neither concept is defined so as to actually define 'careless' or 'dangerous'?