Article: Jail for hoon cyclists

[ozbob]

From the Sunday Herald Sun click here!

Jail for hoon cyclists

Jail for hoon cyclists
Article from: Sunday Herald Sun

Peter Rolfe

May 24, 2009 12:00am

TOUGH new laws that will see rogue cyclists jailed are expected to be introduced in Victoria by the end of this year.

Prison sentences of up to five years will be handed to cyclists who fail to stop after a collision that kills or seriously injures a pedestrian under proposed legislation, expected to be approved next month.

Fines of more than $13,000 and jail terms of up to a year will be given to cyclists convicted of "careless" and "dangerous" riding.

Friends and family of pedestrians killed by cyclists have hailed the changes, which come after the death of James Gould, 77, killed by a cyclist during the controversial Hell Ride bike race in Mentone in 2006.

Another pedestrian, Helene Ryssenbeek, died when she was hit by a cyclist running a red light in 2000.

The Brumby Government was spurred into action after cyclist William Raisen-Shaw was fined $400 for colliding with Mr Gould.

The man who struck Mrs Ryssenbeek was fined $300.