Consultation
Consultation on Road Traffic Offences involving Bad Driving
This consultation paper puts forward a radical set of proposals to create a sensible and effective framework of offences to deal with bad driving and to help create safer roads for everyone.
Title: Consultation on Road Traffic Offences involving Bad Driving
Author: Home Office
Date published: January 2005
Number of pages: 40
Availability: Download consultation 
PDF 351Kb
The Government has set targets to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on the roads by 40%, by 2010, and the number of children killed or seriously injured, by 50%.
For offences of bad driving, the Government believes that the following reforms would bring worthwhile benefits:
The offence of driving without due care or reasonable consideration ("careless driving") should be defined in statute to ensure that it covers all driving "below" the standard of a competent and careful driver.
A new offence of causing death by careless driving, triable on indictment only, and carrying a maximum penalty of 5 years' imprisonment.
Courts should to take serious injuries into account when sentencing. The Government also intends to increase the maximum penalty for the offences of dangerous driving and aggravated vehicle taking from 2 to 5 years, as recommended by the Report on the Road Traffic Penalties Review (July 2002).
When the offence of manslaughter (or in Scotland culpable homicide) is charged in a case of bad driving, provision should be made to allow for alternative verdicts when the principal offence is not proved.
The outdated offence, in England and Wales, of "wanton and furious driving" in the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 should be replaced by suitable modern provisions.
The government also welcomes, views on the following questions:
Q. When careless driving causes injury, should a custodial sentence be available? If so, how would this best be achieved?
Q. Is there scope for applying the principles of restorative justice to suitable cases of bad driving, where death or injury have been caused, not so as to avoid prosecution, but as part of the appropriate sentence?
To deal more effectively and appropriately with people who drive while unlicensed or disqualified the Government invites views on the following proposals:
Anyone convicted of driving while disqualified or unlicensed, whose vehicle was involved in a collision that resulted in death, should be guilty of a new offence carrying a maximum penalty of 5 years' imprisonment.
Courts should take into account the injuries sustained when sentencing anyone convicted of driving while disqualified or unlicensed to drive, whose vehicle was involved in a collision.
The Government would also welcome views on whether uninsured driving (or any other forms of illegal driving) should be included within the scope of the proposed new offence for disqualified and unlicensed driving.
Date for responses: 6 May 2005
Please sent responses to:
Lyndsay Gittus
Fry Building
2nd Floor
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
Download: Consultation on Review of Road Traffic Offences involving Bad Driving PDF 351Kb
Last update: Monday, August 11, 2008