A British cyclist who hit and killed a pedestrian and was convicted under a 19th-century law for drivers of horse-drawn carriages was sentenced on Monday to 18 months in prison.
A British cyclist who hit and killed a pedestrian and was convicted under a 19th-century law for drivers of horse-drawn carriages was sentenced on Monday to 18 months in prison.
Charlie Alliston, a former courier who was 18 at the time of the accident in London last year, was riding a fixed-wheel track bike with no front brakes.
These types of specialist bikes can only be used on racing tracks in Britain and are banned from roads.
Alliston struck 44-year-old Kim Briggs, a mother of two, at a speed of 29 kilometres (18 miles) per hour.
He was convicted of « wanton and furious driving », a crime contained in an 1861 law that is still in force and carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison.
The case has divided Britons, with some calling for tougher sentences for dangerous cycling and others saying pedestrians should take more responsibility.
« This case has clearly and evidently demonstrated there is a gap in the law when it comes to dealing with death or serious injury by dangerous cycling, » Briggs’s husband David told reporters outside court.
In a series of posts on social media while Briggs was still injured in hospital, Alliston described how he twice warned her to get out of the way.
He wrote: « We collided pretty hard, our heads hit together, hers went into the floor and ricocheted into mine. »
He claimed she had been on her phone at the time of the accident.
