Drivers who kill face tougher jail sentences

13 April 2012

Drivers who kill could face far tougher punishments under a shake-up of prosecution policy announced.

Under proposals by the Crown Prosecution Service, more motorists would be charged with causing death by dangerous driving - which carries a 14-year maximum sentence - instead of careless driving, for which there is no jail term.

Those targeted under the crackdown could include motorists who cause fatalities while using their mobile phones, eating or putting on make-up as well as those guilty of more reckless behaviour.

The worst offenders, such as those who kill after losing control while racing friends, could face even tougher manslaughter charges carrying a potential life term.

The reforms respond to growing public concern and follow several cases in which motorists who have killed escaped with minimal punishment.

Announcing the shake-up, Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald said he was determined that dangerous drivers were punished appropriately.

He added that although changes would only be introduced if a three-month consultation gained public support, he believed attitudes towards motorists who kill had hardened and that prosecutors should react accordingly.

That would mean taking a more robust approach towards deciding what constituted dangerous driving and ensuring that tougher charges were brought in borderline cases.

"It is clear that there is increasing public concern about bad drivers and deaths that result from bad driving and it is right that our prosecution policy should reflect that," he said.

"I have a sense that the public is becoming less tolerant and so it is important that we are not overly cautious in the prosecutions that we bring.

"If the public tells us that they think cases that we are classing as careless driving should be prosecuted as dangerous driving, then that will be reflected in prosecution policy. I think it is right that we should respond to changing attitudes."

The key reform suggested in today's document is to charge more motorists who kill with causing death by dangerous driving - rather than careless driving.

Current guidelines stipulate that the dangerous driving charge should usually only be brought when motorists are guilty of ignoring red lights, overtaking at blind spots, driving a vehicle known to be defective or other rash behaviour.

Under the proposed changes, however, motorists who cause fatalities while using a mobile phone, eating or putting on make-up could also be charged with the more serious offence, as could those who drive too fast in poor conditions.

The consultation document says this is because public attitudes about what is dangerous - typified by the altered views of drink driving - have hardened.

"It is important to recognise that what society deems acceptable or "careless" may change over the years and come to be seen as dangerous," it states.

More manslaughter prosecutions could also be brought in future, although the legal difficulty of proving the charge mean that a dangerous driving case is more likely to succeed.

A new law, to come into effect next year, will introduce a new offence of causing death by careless driving, carrying a maximum five-year sentence, in response to cases in which motorists escaped with only a fine.

The CPS's proposals are potentially more far reaching, however, because more drivers could face a conviction and up to 14 years in jail.

500 'seatbelt dodgers' die each year

Hundreds of drivers are dying because they still refuse to fasten their seatbelts.

Each year in Britain about 500 victims of fatal accidents fail to buckle up found the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety.

Experts say at least 300 of them could have survived - and thousands more avoided injury - if they had followed the rules. Currently, drivers who fail to belt themselves in face a £30 fine.

But campaigners called for lawbreakers to get up to six points on their licence and a £60 fine.

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