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Bad drivers to be jailed
Martin Bentham, Home Affairs Editor20.12.07
Bad drivers are to face much heavier prison sentences under new guidelines.
Far more motorists will be charged with dangerous rather than careless driving, raising the penalties available to the courts.
Those targeted will include drivers who use their mobile phones, light cigarettes, read or fiddle with gadgets behind the wheel, those who turn to talk to passengers or who drive too fast for the road conditions, even if within the official speed limit.
Drivers involved in fatal accidents could face manslaughter charges and up to 14 years in jail. Others could face a maximum two-year term even if they do not cause a crash.
The heavier penalties, which will also apply to those driving aggressively, are set out in new Crown Prosecution Service guidelines published today.
They are designed to reflect changing public attitudes to poor conduct behind the wheel and to respond to campaigners' concerns about the short sentences often handed out to motorists who kill.
Announcing the crackdown, Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Ken Macdonald said the aim was to ensure that bad drivers were properly punished and victims and families saw that justice was done. "People care deeply about bad driving and its consequences can cause unimaginable distress," he said.
"We want to make sure our prosecutors take into account changing public attitudes to bad driving and the dangers of driving while using a mobile phone. A charge of dangerous driving will now be the starting point for this offence.
"We are committed to improving the way in which bad driving is dealt with in the criminal justice system."
The key change in the new guidance is a stricter interpretation of what constitutes dangerous driving - which the law states must involve conduct "far below" the standard expected. In the past, most drivers involved in fatal crashes were charged with careless driving, which is less difficult to prove and until last year did not carry a jail sentence.
The CPS now believes that behaviour which previously would have been slightly below acceptable standard - such as using a mobile - is now well beneath it and justifies a higher charge.
Today's document sets out a long list of examples of dangerous conduct which also includes driving with a limb in plaster, when too tired to stay awake, driving a vehicle with a serious defect and travelling too close to the car in front.
The charge is more likely to be brought against motorists in congested cities as even a momentary lack of attention on a busy road is likely to be judged to be dangerous.
In the most extreme cases, drivers who kill could be prosecuted for gross negligence manslaughter, which carries a possible life sentence, but this charge is much harder to prove.
Further guidelines are also given on cases of causing death by careless driving, which now carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison.
Examples include overtaking on the inside and inadvertently driving through a red light.
Reader views (5)
I concur with all the points made by everyone so far. I think most people would agree the best thing this government can do is to put more police out there. This will automatically cause dangerous drivers to hopefully drive safer if they think they might get caught or perhaps it might lead to them being prosecuted. This would also lead to more police to answer emergency calls and fight crime. I have spoken to many people around London and Oxfordshire who say that they wouldn’t bother calling 999 because the chances of the police arriving on time to catch the troublemakers are very slim. If you get held up or robbed by someone with a knife and you call 999 they will ask if you are in immediate danger. If you say no they will tell you to call your local police station. This will mean you may have to wait for a number of hours for a police officer to come and visit you. This is not the fault of the police but the fault of the government. As the UK population spirals out of control and unemployment goes up causing crime to raise the government is cutting down on funds in all public sectors. We need more adequate funding for all public sectors and more police on the roads.
- Rahulmm, London, England, UK.
Richard, Chelmsford, UK. I wholeheartedly agree with you.
- Eddy J, Manchester
And who is going to enforce this? There are no traffic police. Drivers commit offences because they know they will not be caught. This is a no-brainer for anyone with common-sense -- government excluded, of course.
- Philip, London, England
Well it will no doubt help boost the clear up rates as motorists are again targetted while muggers, murderers, rapists and MPs get away with just about anything. Meanwhile, by extension, the plan to ban all 'hand held devices' suggests that the steering wheel will soon become illegal?
- Paul, London
What a good idea since the streets are full of murderers, rapists and drug dealers that have been set free courtesy of this Government. Prison would be a safer place for the decent law abiding citizen that just happens to answer their phone while in the car…
What a joke this Country is!
- Richard, Chelmsford, UK
