Cycling Offence Solicitors

Until now, the criminal law has treated cyclists with a fairly light touch. That is about to change. The Crime and Policing Act 2026 creates four new cycling offences, and the most serious carries a maximum of life imprisonment.

If you ride a bike, whether to commute, to train or to earn a living, the consequences of a collision or a complaint to the police are about to become far more serious.

Newtons’ cycling offence solicitors defend riders accused of dangerous cycling, careless cycling and the new offences of causing death or serious injury by cycling. We act for the accused, and we know how these cases are investigated, charged and defended.

If the police have contacted you about a cycling incident, take advice before you answer any questions. Call Kristina Lancaster on 01765 607200 or request a callback and we will talk through your situation in confidence.

The Law on Cycling Offences Is Changing

Section 141 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 inserts four new offences into the Road Traffic Act 1988. The Act has been passed, but these provisions are not yet in force: commencement is expected to be phased, with the dangerous cycling offences due later in 2026.

The same section quietly widens the existing law. Dangerous cycling and careless cycling currently apply only on a road; once the changes commence, they will apply on a road or any other public place, which brings parks, towpaths, promenades and trails into scope. The new definitions also make the state of your bike part of the test. Riding a cycle that is obviously unsafe, because of its brakes, its condition or something attached to or carried on it, can itself amount to dangerous cycling.

Kristina Lancaster has written a full guide to the new cycling offences, covering what is changing, when, and what it means for riders. The short version: the police will have stronger charging options, and early legal advice will matter more than ever.

The Four New Cycling Offences

Once in force, the Road Traffic Act 1988 will contain four new offences:

• Causing death by dangerous cycling (section 27A), with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment
• Causing serious injury by dangerous cycling (section 27B), where serious injury means grievous bodily harm, with a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both
• Causing death by careless or inconsiderate cycling (section 28B), with a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both
• Causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate cycling (section 28C), with a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both

Causing death by dangerous cycling can only be tried in the Crown Court. The other three offences can be heard in either the Magistrates’ Court or the Crown Court.

Cycling is dangerous in law where the riding falls far below what would be expected of a competent and careful cyclist, and it would be obvious to such a cyclist that riding that way is dangerous. Careless cycling is riding that falls below that standard, and inconsiderate cycling requires that someone was actually inconvenienced. The rider’s age can be taken into account in applying these tests, and the court can return a lesser cycling offence as an alternative verdict. Where the line sits in your case, between dangerous and careless, or careless and blameless, is exactly the ground on which these cases are defended.

Cycling Offences Under the Current Law

Until the new offences commence, and for anything alleged to have happened before they do, the current law applies:

• Dangerous cycling (section 28, Road Traffic Act 1988): a fine of up to £2,500
• Careless or inconsiderate cycling (section 29): a fine of up to £1,000
• Cycling under the influence of drink or drugs (section 30): a fine of up to £1,000. There is no breath test procedure for cyclists, and no driving licence penalty, but a conviction still creates a criminal record
• Wanton or furious driving (section 35, Offences Against the Person Act 1861): the Victorian offence used where a cyclist causes bodily harm, carrying up to two years’ imprisonment. This is the offence that convicted cyclist Charlie Alliston in 2017, and it remains the prosecution’s main route in serious cases until the new offences begin
• Manslaughter: in the rarest and most serious cases, a death caused by cycling can be charged as manslaughter

The date of the alleged offence matters. We will tell you at the first conversation which regime applies to you and what the realistic range of outcomes looks like.

Everyday Cycling Offences and Fixed Penalties

Most cycling enforcement never reaches a courtroom:

• Cycling on the pavement is an offence under section 72 of the Highways Act 1835, usually dealt with by a £50 fixed penalty notice
• Riding through a red light applies to cyclists just as it does to drivers, and is normally a £50 fixed penalty
• Cycling without lights after dark is an offence under the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989

A fixed penalty is not always the end of it. If you dispute what happened, or the police decide to prosecute instead, the matter goes to the Magistrates’ Court, and it is worth taking advice before you pay or respond.

Will a Cycling Offence Affect Your Driving Licence?

Cycling offences do not carry penalty points, and a cycling conviction does not appear on your driving licence. That does not make them harmless. A conviction is a criminal record: it can appear on DBS checks, affect professional registrations and some insurance applications and, under the new offences, carry a prison sentence. If you ride for work, for a delivery platform or in a licensed role, the stakes are higher still.

How Our Cycling Offence Solicitors Can Help

From first contact with the police to the final hearing, we protect your position. Our cycling offence representation includes:

• Advising before you speak to the police, including at voluntary interviews under caution, where what you say shapes the whole case
• Responding to police letters and postal requisitions properly and on time
• Testing the standard of riding alleged: the gap between dangerous and careless cycling is where charges are reduced and cases are won
• Examining the evidence: CCTV, helmet camera and dashcam footage, witness accounts, road layout and sight lines often look very different on proper analysis
• Instructing experts on bike condition, speed and collision reconstruction where they help your case
• Challenging the charge where the riding, the causation or the injury threshold does not meet the legal test
• Representing you in the Magistrates’ Court and the Crown Court
• Mitigation and sentencing, presenting who you are and what actually happened, not the caricature in the prosecution papers

If you were injured while cycling and want advice about a claim rather than a defence, our personal injury team can help you separately.

Accused After a Serious Collision?

Where someone has died or been seriously hurt, the investigation changes character. You may be interviewed under caution, your bike and equipment may be seized for examination, and the file may sit with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service for months. If someone has died, a coroner’s inquest may examine the collision in public, and what you say there can affect any prosecution.

The advice in these cases is simple and urgent: say nothing substantive until you have spoken to a solicitor. Decisions made at the roadside and in the first interview have consequences that cannot always be undone. Our criminal law team handles the investigation, the inquest and any prosecution together.

Why Choose Newtons for Cycling Offence Defence

The North of England has strong cycling connections. From the UK’s most famous long-distance cycling routes to the rain-slicked run clubs in the Dales. And let’s not forget the men’s Tour de France back in 2014, the 2019 UCI Road World Championships and the annual Tour de Yorkshire. In fact, the women’s Tour de France is scheduled to take place in Yorkshire in the summer of 2027.

Whether you’re a daily commuter in Knaresborough, Harrogate, York, Ripon, Darlington, or Penrith. Or a rider working for delivery platforms, a roadie, a mountain biker or a touring cyclist. We understand what cycling means here, and what an allegation threatens.

Our criminal defence team appears regularly in the region’s Magistrates’ and Crown Courts and defends the full range of road traffic offences, so we know how the police build these cases and how prosecutors think.

You will have a named cycling offence solicitor who knows your case, not a call centre. We act with honesty, clarity and loyalty, and we stay at your side from first contact to final outcome.

Cycling Offences Frequently Asked Questions