Cyclist.ie has been concerned about how cycling fatalities and serious injuries arising from road traffic collisions (RTCs) are handled in Ireland by the Garda-DPP axis. The report from The BBC below shows that there is concern about how the local constabularies and the CPS handle these cases in England.
The way cycling deaths are treated by police and prosecutors may need to change, the former Director of Public Prosecutions has said.
Sir Keir Starmer said there was a “very strong case” for the Crown Prosecution Service to make the final decision on whether to prosecute cases.
Currently, police forces decide whether to pass a case on to the CPS after investigating a cycling death.
The CPS said cases should be referred to a prosecutor as early as possible.
Department of Transport figures show 113 cyclists were killed in the UK last year.
Last year a Freedom of Information request by BBC’s Newsbeat found that between 2007 and 2014 there were 276 recorded incidents where a cyclist was killed in an accident involving a motor vehicle.
Of these, 148 – 54% – resulted in the driver of the vehicle being charged with an offence. Of those found guilty, fewer than half went to prison.