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> The government said it had agreed to introduce new laws so those who kill or seriously injure people because of dangerous or careless cycling face the same pe

> The government said it had agreed to introduce new laws so those who kill or seriously injure people because of dangerous or careless cycling face the same penalties as drivers and motorcyclists. As far as I know, hitting someone with a car is currently the least penalized way of killing someone, as long as alcohol or specific intent can't be proven. So that sounds to me like more lenient and less agressive pursuing of severe penalties, which doesn't match the tone of the article...which direction would that go ?

rich_sasha 2y ago
I guess there aren't many other ways a regular person can accidentally kill someone. You can't accidentally stab or shoot one. If driving is legal, and people aren't assumed to be superhuman, then lapses of attention and judgments are to be expected, and so you're right - it is as if killing someone in a car is less penalizable. I'm all for lower speed limits and separated bike lanes. I just guess we can't be surprised that people die when multi-tonne vehicles are driven around towns by mostly competent drivers.
- spacebanana7 2y ago
  Also many fatal car accidents have some level of shared fault, which is rarer in other forms of accidental death. For example, one person might forget to indicate a motorway lane change whilst the other is driving at 120mph.
- PaulHoule 2y ago
  They said Dick Cheney accidentally shot someone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney_hunting_accident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney_hunting_accident
  - rich_sasha 2y ago
    TIL. But case in point actually - it was deemed an accident and Cheney got away scot-free, even though shooting someone ought to be about as serious an attempt to kill as it gets. Because it was an accident.
- stefs 2y ago
  Of course people are shot by accident all the time. There are even a few cases of hunting dogs shooting their owners (by stepping on the trigger).
spacebanana7 2y ago
I think it’s more about having reliable penalties. Using Victorian era horse related laws to prosecute cyclists might have a lot of weird case law and language gaps that a defence lawyer could take advantage of.

rich_sasha 2y ago

I guess there aren't many other ways a regular person can accidentally kill someone. You can't accidentally stab or shoot one. If driving is legal, and people aren't assumed to be superhuman, then lapses of attention and judgments are to be expected, and so you're right - it is as if killing someone in a car is less penalizable. I'm all for lower speed limits and separated bike lanes. I just guess we can't be surprised that people die when multi-tonne vehicles are driven around towns by mostly competent drivers.

spacebanana7 2y ago
Also many fatal car accidents have some level of shared fault, which is rarer in other forms of accidental death. For example, one person might forget to indicate a motorway lane change whilst the other is driving at 120mph.
PaulHoule 2y ago
They said Dick Cheney accidentally shot someone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney_hunting_accident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney_hunting_accident
- rich_sasha 2y ago
  TIL. But case in point actually - it was deemed an accident and Cheney got away scot-free, even though shooting someone ought to be about as serious an attempt to kill as it gets. Because it was an accident.
stefs 2y ago
Of course people are shot by accident all the time. There are even a few cases of hunting dogs shooting their owners (by stepping on the trigger).

spacebanana7 2y ago

I think it’s more about having reliable penalties. Using Victorian era horse related laws to prosecute cyclists might have a lot of weird case law and language gaps that a defence lawyer could take advantage of.