A well thought-out campaign, sponsored by a firm of cycling lawyers, has been launched in this excellent leaflet

Link to 4Mb PDF leaflet

The leaflet is published with the latest edition of ‘Spokes’, the bulletin of the Lothian Cycle Campaign based in Edinburgh.

Strict liability, the leaflet says, has its origins in Roman jursiprudence. If a person is in control of a potential source of danger to other people’s lives, health and property, then -even if they have committed no fault- they can be found liable for damages arising from that danger. Under strict liability, motorists would have a new responsibility towards both cyclists and pedestrians, and cyclists a new responsibility towards pedestrians.

The leaflet has the added attraction of extending the logic of strict liability to cyclists, where they might be in collision with a pedestrian -some might say this would increase the campaign’s chances of success…

I particularly like the statement, ‘Strict liability in civil law is the proper approach for a mature, socially conscious nation as it addresses the unacceptable human cost of the current system’. Also, ‘No-fault liability already applies in many other situations. For example, the owner of a dangerous dog, or the employer with potentially dangerous equipment, is strictly liable where an individual is injured by the source of danger, which they control.’

Good on them and may their campaign reap rapid results!