Tougher sentences for death by dangerous driving
Drivers who cause deaths could face much tougher sentences under proposals outlined in a consultation paper launched by the Home Office today.
The paper follows a wide-ranging review of the existing laws during which the government sought the views of the police, judges and road safety campaigners.
Key proposals included the creation of a new offence of causing death by careless driving, carrying a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment; a new offence dealing with death resulting from illegal (disqualified or unlicensed) driving, carrying a maximum five years imprisonment; and a requirement for courts to take serious injuries into account when sentencing.
There was immediate cross-party support from the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, who both said the law needed to be toughened.
Death by dangerous driving can attract a maximum sentence of 14 years, but other driving offences causing death have previously resulted in a court fine or short custodial sentences.
Home Office Minister Baroness Scotland said: “Our proposals today, which we aim to take forward in legislation, seek to strike the right balance between the level of criminal culpability on the part of the bad or illegal driver and the devastation that their action may cause.
“Too many of those who have been disqualified from driving by a court or who drive without an appropriate licence put other road users at risk by taking a vehicle out on the road in clear breach of both the law and their responsibilities to other road users.”
The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) said that the proposals closed “a long-standing gap in the law”.
Executive director Robert Gifford, said: “Causing death on the roads must not be treated as a minor or trivial offence. The new charge of causing death through careless driving recognises for the first time in law the tragic consequences that can result from bad driving.
“However, the crucial question will be how these new proposals are brought into force by the courts, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.”
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis, said: “There is a definite need for stronger punishments for those who kill on the road but the Government’s example, motorists who kill while on their mobile phones, is not careless but actually dangerous. Using a mobile while driving is a wilful act and therefore a dangerous act.
“The Government is right to toughen up the law but it is vital there is extreme clarity in the way the law is improved.”
He also added that he fully supported proposals to for a new offence of death resulting from illegal driving.
Liberal Democrat transport spokesman John Thurso, said: “There is a clear need to change the legislation to offer the police and the courts appropriate offences and punishment in cases where people have been killed or injured through negligent driving.
“Although I welcome today’s consultation I regret that the Government did not use the Road Safety Bill, currently going through Parliament, to deal with this.”
