DUNDEE EAST MSP Shona Robison hopes a new law taking tougher action against death-crash drivers will lead to improved road safety for cyclists.

She was commenting after receiving figures on the number of pedal cyclists who needed to be detained in hospital for treatment to injuries received in road accidents.

She sought the information as a result of the case of a Dundee cyclist who was knocked down and died after being struck by a speeding lorry near Inverness earlier this year.

The lorry driver was fined £1000 and banned from driving for a year after he admitted a charge of careless driving.

The dead man’s family were angry that the lorry driver was not charged with, and punished for, a more serious offence, but the sheriff explained that the case had to be decided on the standard of driving involved and not on the tragic consequences.

There is an offence of causing death by dangerous driving, but this doesn’t apply to cases where the standard of driving was deemed as only careless, even though the carelessness resulted in someone’s death.

A new offence of causing death by careless driving will soon be introduced throughout the UK.

It will carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison and courts will be allowed to take the fatal consequence of the careless driving into account.

The new legislation has been welcomed by road safety campaigners and Ms Robison added her support to the change.

“I hope that when this new law comes in there will be publicity given to it so that motorists are more aware of the consequences of losing attention when behind the wheel,” she said.

“Drivers will have to be more careful when they go close to cyclists because they will face a stiffer penalty through their careless driving if a death is involved.

“I hope this new law, and greater awareness of it, can lead to an improved level of driving.”

The new offence of causing death by careless driving is included in the road safety bill working its way through the Westminster parliament, and there is no date yet for its implementation.

The issue prompted the Dundee East MSP to seek figures on the number of cyclist casualties treated by the NHS in Scotland over the last five years.

Health minister Andy Kerr was able to give figures for pedal cyclists and for motor bike riders but only for in-patient discharges from acute hospitals, as it was not possible to identify them from the outpatients treated in accident and emergency departments.

Throughout Scotland the trend for pedal cyclists detained in hospital for treatment to injuries was mainly downwards.

Nationally there was a 9.3% fall, in Tayside the proportionate fall was 17.9%, and in Fife it was down 10.1%.

For motor cyclists, the proportion detained for treatment for injuries sustained in accidents was up 6.9% nationally from 2001 to 2005, up 4.7% in Tayside and up 33.3% in Fife.