Motorcyclists ‘should automatically be blamed for cycle crashes’

Motorcyclists would automatically be blamed for collisions with cyclists under proposals by Government advisers.

Liability for compensation claims should be assumed to lie with the most powerful vehicle in any crash, according to the Transport Department-funded group Cycling England.

Cyclists would be held liable for collisions with pedestrians, while drivers and motorcyclists would automatically have to compensate either cyclists or pedestrians. 
But the proposals do not extend to automatically blaming car drivers for crashes with motorcycles. A Cycling England spokesman said: “It’s not something we can comment on.” 

The group’s Chairman, Phillip Darnton, said: “I would like to see the legal onus placed on motorists when there are accidents, speed limits reduced to 20mph on suburban and residential roads, cycling taught to all schoolchildren and cycling provision included in major planning applications.”

Similar civil laws are already in place in other European countries including the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. 

Government figures show that in crashes between cyclists and motorcyclists, the cyclist is nearly twice as likely to be have contributed by not looking. 

The Department for Transport has denied the proposal is being considered.