Animosity between those who like two wheels and those who prefer four is about to get worse. The apparent disregard of so-called "guerrilla cyclists" for traffic signals and the highway code has long irritated Britain's car owners, and a European Commission proposal is about to spark a new bout of collective road rage, reports Andrew Osborn from Brussels.
Brussels wants to tip the balance in favour of cyclists so that motorists become automatically liable for damages in every accident involving a car and a bicycle regardless of blame. The proposal would turn British law on its head: in Britain a driver involved in an accident with a bicycle is presumed innocent and a cyclist must prove negligence to win compensation.
The RAC says the proposal is nonsensical and claims that it could add an average 10 per cent (about €75) a year to every driver's insurance premium. The insurance industry has launched a concerted campaign to defeat the new law.
The British Government says it will do its best to persuade its European partners to reject the proposal. "We've to look at where to apportion blame," a spokesman said. "You have to remember that people can be done for cycling dangerously so an accident is not always a driver's fault."
The Orwellian sounding Fifth Motor Insurance Directive was floated in June. It will have to be approved by the European Parliament and member governments - although not unanimously, which means that British opposition could be ignored.
The commission says that it is only responding to "a growing demand from pedestrians and cyclists - the weakest parties in traffic accidents - to be protected by the insurance coverage of the vehicle involved". In France, Belgium, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Germany the motorist is almost always liable for damages or compensation regardless of who caused the accident.
- Guardian News Service