From:

Ministry of Justice

Part of:

Road safety, Sentencing reform, and Criminal justice reform

Published:

15 October 2017

Ministers confirm plans to introduce tougher sentences for those who drive irresponsibly and devastate lives.

• life sentences will be introduced for those who cause death by dangerous driving, and for careless drivers who kill while under the influence of drink or drugs
• new offence of causing serious injury through careless driving to be created
• part of government action to make roads safer for all and stop devastation caused by dangerous drivers and cyclists

Killer drivers face life behind bars after plans to increase maximum sentences received resounding support from families and campaigners.

Ministers today confirmed that drivers who cause death by speeding, racing, or using a mobile phone could face sentences equivalent to manslaughter, with maximum penalties raised from 14 years to life.

Offenders who cause death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs will also face life sentences, and a new offence of causing serious injury by careless driving will be created.

The move comes after an overwhelming response to a government consultation which revealed substantial backing for the plans from a wide range of people including victims, bereaved families and road safety experts.

Today Ministers are announcing the outcome and confirmed the introduction of much tougher penalties as part of wider action across government to clamp down on dangerous, criminal behaviour on our roads.

Justice Minister Dominic Raab said:

We’ve taken a long hard look at driving sentences, and we received 9,000 submissions to our consultation. Based on the seriousness of the worst cases, the anguish of the victims families, and maximum penalties for other serious offences such as manslaughter, we intend to introduce life sentences of imprisonment for those who wreck lives by driving dangerously, drunk or high on drugs.

On the new offence of causing serious injury by careless driving, Dominic Raab said:

We will introduce a new offence of causing serious injury by careless driving, punishable by imprisonment, to fill a gap in the law and reflect the seriousness of some of the injuries suffered by victims in this category of case.

The measures were confirmed in a government response to a consultation which will be published tomorrow (Monday 16 October 2017). The consultation sought views on whether current maximum penalties available to the courts should be increased, and received over 1,000 replies in just three days when launched in December 2016 – reaching more than 9,000 when it closed in February 2017.

The proposals confirmed today include:

• increasing the maximum penalty for causing death by dangerous driving from 14 years to life
• increasing the maximum penalty for causing death by careless driving whilst under the influence of drink or drugs from 14 years to life
• creating a new offence of causing serious injury by careless driving

In 2016, 157 people were sentenced for causing death by dangerous driving, with a further 32 convicted of causing death by careless driving whilst under the influence.

Todays announcement delivers on the governments pledge to consider the sentencing powers available to the courts for the most serious driving offences – making sure that punishment reflects the harm caused to victims and their families.

The move forms part of government wide action to improve safety for all road users, following recent devastation caused by irresponsible motorists and dangerous cyclists.

Last month the Department for Transport (DFT) launched an urgent review to consider whether a new offence equivalent to causing death by careless or dangerous driving should be introduced for cyclists.

Source: Version:1.0 StartHTML:000000231 EndHTML:000006614 StartFragment:000006441 EndFragment:000006539 StartSelection:000006441 EndSelection:000006539 SourceURL:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/life-sentences-for-killer-driversLife sentences for killer drivers – GOV.UK

Ministry of Justice

Source: YouTube Version:1.0 StartHTML:000000206 EndHTML:000013738 StartFragment:000013393 EndFragment:000013640 StartSelection:000013393 EndSelection:000013640 SourceURL:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O51f1BZKPooYou can’t even text and walk – YouTube

Despite the Government’s harsher penalties introduced in March 2017 to tackle the use of mobile phones while driving, more than half of motorists are still making calls and texts, as well as checking social media, while they are behind the wheel, new research suggests.

The survey of more than 1,000 motorists, conducted by price comparison site MyCarNeedsA.com, found that 2% of respondents admitted to texting while driving, while 20% admitted to making calls and 6% said they checked social media.

The research revealed that there is a much higher incidence of mobile phone usage when motorists are stuck in traffic, with 66% of motorists admitting to texting, while 37% admitted to checking social media and 18% admitted to making calls.

Just 37% of motorists said that the tougher new driving laws (six points and a fine of £220) will stop them using their phones while driving and one in three motorists believe the fines should be higher, so they are more of a deterrent.

When asked if the Government was doing enough to curb mobile phone usage, 41% of motorists said that the new measures were not tough enough are calling for the Government to do more.

What’s worrying, is that many motorists are unclear of the new rules, with one in six motorists believing they won’t be fined if they have pulled over to make a call while their engine is running.

A further 8% of motorists think that you can use your phone when you are stationary and the engine is running and almost 19% of motorists believe that you will only be fined if you are caught using your phone while you are driving.

In fact, it is illegal to touch a mobile phone, even with a hands free set, while driving and has been since 2003.

According to the latest figures, 22 people were killed and 99 seriously injured in accidents in 2015 in which the driver using a mobile phone was a contributory factor.

Scott Hamilton, managing director of MyCarNeedsA.com, said: “The Government’s recent crackdown does not appear to be discouraging motorists to abide by the law and it’s deeply concerning that so many are continuing to use their mobile phones when they are driving.

“It’s clear that there is some confusion over what the fines apply to and the Government needs to do more to educate motorists about what constitutes a fine and points.   It also looks like the new fines don’t go far enough, to be a strong deterrent for motorists.

“It’s great that Nissan has developed in-vehicle technology to block mobile phone signals. Its prototype, Signal Shield, is built into the arm rest of its Juke crossover vehicle and uses 19th century technology.

“The ‘Faraday cage’, uses material such as a wire mesh to shield its contents from electromagnetic fields.  Drivers simply place their phones into the compartment to block out all cellular, Bluetooth and wi-fi signals. In the US, the mobile phone network, AT&T has produced a free app, DriveMode which turns on when the vehicle is moving.  It silences text message alerts and automatically replies to them.

“It would be useful if mobile phone networks in the UK used this type of app, or car manufacturers install hardware in vehicles that effectively ‘blocks’ signals to the phone.  Other potential solutions involve software on the phone with a Bluetooth link to the vehicle, or motion sensing technology.

“The big problem is that many motorists aren’t disciplined enough to turn off their phone when they get in the car and happy to take the risk.  Preventing phone use in vehicles and removing the source of temptation altogether, may be the only way to tackle the problem.”

Recent EU data shows that distraction is a contributory factor in up to 30% of collisions, while research from Transport Research Laboratory found reaction times of drivers talking on a hands-free phone to be 50% slower, than driving under normal conditions.

Expert psychologists have also concluded that the ability to multitask safely while driving a vehicle is a myth and the most dangerous of driving multitasks is texting and talking on a mobile phone.

Source: http://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/fleet-industry-news/2017/05/10/motorists-still-using-mobile-phones-despite-higher-fines

Second year evaluation of two sections of all-lane running (ALR) on the M25 have found that both are, at the minimum, achieving their objectives of ‘maintaining safety performance’, with one section exceeding expectations.

The DfT evaluation reports, published today (21 Mar), focus on the time period May 2015 to April 2016. The collision rate on the scheme between J23-27 fell by 11%. However, when adjusted to take into account the ‘national trend between periods’, the figures represents a 1% increase which the DfT describes as ‘not statistically significant’ and representing ‘no significant change’. With regard to the second scheme (J5-7), collision rates between J5-6 fell by 27%, which equates to 18% taking into account national trends. The report says the results for the whole stretch (J5-7) were ‘similar’. The report says this reduction is ‘statistically significant’, and that the scheme is ‘exceeding its objective of maintaining safety performance’.

Both reports do however concede that further monitoring is required due to the small sample size. In terms of traffic flow, between J23-26, average daily flows have increased in excess of 10% on all links, and at a higher rate than national trends. On the widened ALR section between J5 and J6, flows have increased 17% clockwise and 7% anticlockwise. These increases in flow are above the national trends. J6 to J7, which has not had an increase in number of lanes, saw a 5% increase in flow which is in line with national trends. Compliance with Red X signs for the two schemes were 96% and 94%. The reports conclude that for both schemes ‘significant capacity improvements have been achieved, supporting efficient movement of goods and services on this key section of the SRN’. The report also says there is still spare capacity to support future growth.

Source: http://www.roadsafetygb.org.uk/news/5645.html

A new study has concluded that, on average, the number of road traffic collisions reduces by 30% at sites where speed cameras are deployed.

The study, led by Professor Dan Graham* from the Department of Civil Engineering at Imperial College London, is based on data for 771 camera sites in eight areas across England – Cheshire, Dorset, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Leicester, Merseyside, Sussex and the West Midlands.  For control sites the researchers randomly sampled 4,787 points on the network across the same eight areas.

The researchers developed an ‘approximate Bayesian doubly-robust estimation method’ to quantify the causal effect of speed cameras on collisions.

The paper says that previous empirical work on speed camera effectiveness, which shows a ‘diverse range of estimated effects’, is based largely on ‘outcome regression models’ using the Empirical Bayes approach, or on simple before and after comparisons.

The paper’s conclusion reads as follows: “We have developed an approximate Bayesian doubly robust approach for estimation of average treatment effects to analyse the impact of speed cameras on road traffic accidents. This is the first time such an approach has been applied to study road safety outcomes.

“The method we propose could be used more generally for estimation of crash modification factor distributions.

“Our case study results indicate the speed cameras do cause a significant reduction in road traffic accidents, by as much as 30% on average for treated sites.

“This is an important result that could help inform public policy debates on appropriate measures to reduce RTAs.

“The adoption of evidence based approaches by public authorities, based on clear principles of causal inference, could vastly improve their ability to evaluate different courses of action and better understand the consequences of intervention.”

*Dan Graham is professor of statistical modelling in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Director of the Statistical Modelling and Economics Research group, and Research Director of the Railway and Transport Strategy Centre within the Centre for Transport Studies at Imperial College London. He holds doctoral degrees from the Department of Mathematics at Imperial and from the London School of Economics, and has published more than 80 papers in refereed journals and two books.

He is currently engaged in projects on Bayesian inference for road traffic accident prediction and modelling the effects of transport interventions for ex-post evaluation. He provides advice to Government departments around the world, including the UK Department for Transport and the Treasury, and was appointed specialist advisor to the UK Parliamentary Select Committee on Transport. 

Source: http://www.roadsafetygb.org.uk/news/5654.html#sthash.ubv8nwpG.dpuf

TISPOL has announced details of Project EDWARD 2017, the ‘European Day Without A Road Death’, including a new video pledge page set to launch in the coming weeks.

Taking place on Thursday 21 September 2017, Project EDWARD encourages drivers, riders and pedestrians to spare an extra thought for their safety.

The initiative is also designed to draw attention to the 70 deaths that occur on average each day on Europe’s roads. New initiatives for 2017 edition include a dedicated Twitter feed for the awareness-raising initiative, and a new website.

The new Project EDWARD website will feature a host of new resources including artwork that can be downloaded free of charge, a social media schedule, countdown timer (starting 11 June, 100 days before 21 September) and an interactive map.

The website will also feature a new pledge to sign, including a video pledge for which more details will be published in due course. The best video pledges will be showcased online and via social media. Founded in 2016,

Project EDWARD was created to ‘re-energise the reduction of fatalities and serious injuries on Europe’s roads’. While the inaugural event, which took place on 21 September, saw a fall in death across the continent, TISPOL was cautious in attributing that fall to Project EDWARD. However, it did say the initiative delivered fantastic results in terms of revitalising Europe-wide collaboration and participation, and EDWARD’s impact on social media was eye-catchingly successful. The event hashtag, #ProjectEdward, trended for much of the morning, peaking as high as number six in the UK. In total, there were 7,923 Twitter posts using the hashtag, equating to a reach of 19,298,225 users. Road Safety GB is once again supporting Project EDWARD 2017, which is sponsored by Road Safety Support and Westcotec. TISPOL is also encouraging authorities to use Project EDWARD as an umbrella theme to unite a variety of road safety awareness-raising events and initiatives

For more information about Project EDWARD, including sponsoring and supporting the initiative, contact James Luckhurst, TISPOL media advisor. – See more at: http://www.roadsafetygb.org.uk/news/5632.html#sthash.YDuPmYua.dpuf

Source: http://www.roadsafetygb.org.uk/news/5632.html

Highways England has launched a new campaign urging drivers to slow down when it’s raining, on the back of data showing that road users are 30 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured in rain than in snow.

The campaign, ‘when it rains, it kills’, says that even driving within the speed limit in wet weather can be dangerous if drivers don’t allow extra space between them and the vehicle in front.

The message is being reinforced with rain-activated paint messages visible to people leaving motorway services when it is raining. The campaign also includes a new video (above) which shows rain falling inside the home of a family imagined to have been involved in a serious road collision.

Richard Leonard, Highways England’s head of road safety, said: “Most of us already slow down in snow, ice or fog but when it rains we consider it normal so don’t adapt our driving. “The sad fact is that 2,918 people were killed or seriously injured on the roads when it was raining last year, and not slowing down to suit the current conditions was identified as a factor in one in nine of all road deaths. “Rain makes it harder for tyres to grip the road and harder for drivers to see ahead – significantly increasing the chances of being involved in a collision. We’ve launched our new campaign to make drivers aware of the dangers and to stay safe.” Highways England says it generally takes at least twice as long to stop on a wet road as on a dry road because tyres have less grip.

Advice for drivers includes: slowing down if rain and spray from vehicles is making it difficult to see and be seen; keeping well back from the vehicle in front; and slowing down gradually if the steering becomes unresponsive as it probably means that water is preventing the tyres from gripping the road.

The campaign is the latest initiative by Highways England in its bid to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on England’s motorways and major A roads by 40% by 2020 –

Source: http://www.roadsafetygb.org.uk/news/5458.html#sthash.6fHwVAyP.dpuf

Mobile phones could be blocked from working in moving cars under Government plans.

According to The Guardian, the Department for Transport is to work with car manufacturers and mobile companies to see whether technology could block mobile signals in moving vehicles.

The transport minister Lord Ahmad said the meeting would “consider safe drive modes, or other practical applications, when a person is driving”.

The move follows the announcement earlier this year that motorists caught using their phones will see tougher penalties.

“We are determined to crack down on mobile phone use at the wheel,” a DfT spokesperson said. “Our plans to double penalties for this serious crime should act as an incredibly strong deterrent. We will continue to explore what more can be done to tackle this crime.”

In response, the RAC said drive-safe technology can help curb mobile phone use but is not enough on its own.

RAC road safety spokesperson Pete Williams said: “We need a comprehensive package of actions to tackle the problem at every level, from the stronger penalties due next year, to tougher enforcement, combined with a greater focus on engaging drivers themselves on the issue in an effort to make them want to change their own behaviour – and in turn make our roads safer.”

Source: Fleet World By Natalie Middleton