"Whosoever, having the charge of any carriage or vehicle, shall by wanton or furious driving or racing, or other wilful misconduct, or by wilful neglect, do or cause to be done any bodily harm to any person whatsoever, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and being convicted thereof shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years ..."
This section was repealed for the Republic of Ireland by section 70(a) of the Road Traffic Act 2010. In the Republic of Ireland, a person liable to be charged an offence under section 53 of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 was not liable, by reference to the same occurrence, to be charged with an offence under this section.[1]
"Misdemeanour"
The reference to a misdemeanour must now be construed as a reference to an offence.[2]
In England and Wales, this offence is now used to prosecute:
drivers of horse-drawn carriages and vehicles
motorists who cannot be prosecuted for dangerous driving because they were driving elsewhere than on a road or public place, or because they were not warned that prosecution was intended pursuant to section 1 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988
cyclists who cannot be prosecuted for dangerous cycling because they were cycling elsewhere than on a road, or because they were not warned that prosecution was intended pursuant to section 1 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988[3]
It was used in 2009 to prosecute a death caused by a cyclist collision, which would have fallen outside other laws as it is the closest equivalent to dangerous driving for cyclists.[4] It was used again in 2017 for similar reasons.[5]