Cyclists could be forced to adhere to 20mph speed limits or be slapped with £2,500 fines.
The charity that manages London’s Royal Parks has written to the government calling for new laws to make cyclists obey 20mph limit to ensure the safety of others.
The Royal Parks charity looks after Regent’s Park, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Greenwich Park and many more.
Cyclists, it claimed, were causing serious injuries, fatal in some cases. These could be mitigated if their speeds could be controlled, the charity claims.
According to a report in The Telegraph, the charity wants the speed limit to be enforceable with prosections.
Loyd Grossman, chair of The Royal Parks, has written to Sir Chris Bryant, the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, calling for the laws to be updated.
The letter says that the charity’s board wants to see an amendment to The Royal Parks and Other Open Spaces Regulations 1997 “with a view to setting speed limits for cyclists”.
A Royal Parks spokesperson told GB News: “We can confirm that we have very recently written to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to request a change to the regulations which govern The Royal Parks (The Royal Parks and Other Open Spaces Regulations 1997).
“We have asked that the regulations are amended to ensure the current maximum speed limit of 20mph in the parks is applicable to cyclists as well as to motor vehicles.”
Lawyers from Slater and Gordon explained that cyclists can be prosecuted for ‘cycling furiously’ or ‘wanton and furious cycling’.
“‘Wanton and furious cycling’ is the closest offence to dangerous driving that a cyclist can be charged with but can “only ever be used when the circumstances of a cycling accident involve someone suffering serious injury or death as a direct result of the cyclist’s actions.”
