A cyclist is calling for harsher penalties for motorists after suffering a fractured elbow when he was hit by a car in Msida yesterday, just months after cycling the length of Britain without incident.

Hilary Galea Lauri was struck from behind by a vehicle close to the University early in the afternoon, leaving him facing a lengthy recovery. “The law does not distinguish between the perils faced by cyclists and those faced by motorists,” he told the Times of Malta.

“Penalties should be far more criminal because of the different consequences of hitting a cyclist.” Yesterday’s incident comes a month after a 61-year-old man was flung 20 metres from his bike after being clipped by a motorist, breaking his collarbone. The police refused to accept the man’s version of events, insisting he must have hit a wall.

Earlier in November, cyclists were also left fuming by a court ruling which acquitted a water bowser driver of seriously injuring a cyclist, despite two police officers having been on the spot at the time of the incident.

For Mr Galea Lauri, his accident is most striking as just last August, he completed a 1,600-kilometre charity ride from Land’s End in Cornwall to John O’Groats in Scotland without a scratch. “I cycled alongside lorries for miles on end, and not once did I have even a close shave,” he said.

Mr Galea Lauri insisted the law should place the onus on motorists, as cyclists were already more mindful of avoiding anything that would put them in danger.